Pulsian Dating Etiquette
by ServeMeTheSky
Summary: Pulsian dating etiquette is a little different to those of Cocoon. Lightning doesn't really know how to react when Fang keeps giving her pelts and leaving her kills on the doorstep.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay guys, this is a fill for the Fangrai Forever prompt list. Many thanks to whoever thought of it, because I enjoyed writing it. Even if it wasn't supposed to be this long. And I made it up as I went along.**

 **It is set after the events of FF XIII-2, but is slightly AU in the sense that it ignores the events of Lightning Returns, and assumes everyone's lives settled down on Gran Pulse. There are minor mentions of violence, and the entire story is themed around two women having romantic feelings for each other, so consider yourselves warned. I don't own Final Fantasy, but this story is covered in my blood, sweat and tears, so its probably best not to steal it.**

* * *

Lightning Farron awoke with the sunrise, the warm light bathing her eyelids. From her early teens she had always slept with the curtains partially open, allowing the morning sun to stream into her room and wake her naturally. She tried an alarm clock before, but couldn't stand the loud, artificial wailing jerking her out of sleep. The early-morning effect was greater now that they lived on Gran Pulse, not because the sun was any brighter, but because the world was totally different. Gran Pulse was a primal place, much more attuned to nature than the rather cloistered world of Cocoon. The open window allowed a crisp, clean breeze to waft throughout the room, and Lightning could see green tree tops dancing against a backdrop of azure sky.

She gave a little sigh of contentment. It had been six months since she had been freed from Valhalla, and the world had returned to what passed for normal. New Bodhum was growing by the day, with the number of beach-side houses almost doubled from before her arrival. People had flocked down from Cocoon and it was starting to feel like a proper little town. Small shops and other buildings were popping up almost at a rate of knots, making the fledging community feel more grounded. NORA house was doing a roaring trade, with Lebreau's menu featuring a delicious combination of both classic Cocoocian dishes and traditional Pulsian fare. The school where Serah worked had several classes and she and the other teachers were doing a wonderful job combining conventional academics with useful life lessons handy for their new home. Jobs for hunters, fishers and builders were thriving, with everyone rather enjoying the opportunity to live a life more attuned to the natural world.

Still in its early stages of growth, the town changed shape almost by the day. It had taken less time than one might have imagined, adjusting to life on Gran Pulse. It was certainly stressful at first, having to hunt and make and create everything you needed instead of relying on a fal'Cie to provide it for you, but people are nothing if not resilient and in the three years since the Fall they had proved themselves worthy. Since news of Lightning, Fang and Vanille's arrival had spread, the stragglers from Cocoon and the rest of the displaced found themselves gravitating towards New Bodhum, wanting the perceived safety of living close to an ex l'Cie. Now that there was no propaganda from the government, and magic had somehow bled into the world, the fallacies regarding l'Cie had largely been put to rest (and Lightning was convinced there was a fallacy/fal'Cie joke in there somewhere if only the pieces could be put together). Initially the three of them were treated with a sort of awed reverence but it thankfully died off after they rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in.

Lightning stretched her limbs and gazed out of her bedroom window. Her house was located a little way back from the beach, more nestled in the outskirts of the woods than anything else. She had requested it so, not because of a dislike of beach-front living, but because she wanted to retain some privacy in her new life. Serah had extended an offer to stay with her almost before they had set foot in New Bodhum, as she was already putting up Fang and Vanille, but Lightning declined. It wasn't that she didn't want to live with her sister again, because some part of her did, but in her years of exile as Etro's champion she had gotten rather used to being by herself. This is not to say she was the social recluse everyone suspected she was. She was the first to admit that she could be reticent, but that was probably due to circumstance rather than anything else. She just wanted to be able to have her own space, where she could truly relax.

Lightning had always struggled with relaxation, ever since her parents had died and left her alone with Serah. She had to juggle school, work and caring for her sister, and consequently had very little time for herself. She wasn't bitter about that fact, she just didn't really have the opportunity to figure out what she did and didn't enjoy in terms of downtime.

She did know that she could easily get used to this new way of living. There was something very satisfying about living a life that wasn't constrained by the fal'Cie, where end results were the product of hard graft and labour, rather than mechanical machinations. Take her house for example. Lightning swept her eyes across her modest bedroom, taking in all the nuances that she still hadn't gotten used to after these past few months, andsome part of her hoped she never got used to it. When she announced that she wanted a modest house in the woods the town's main builder, a gentle giant of a man called Ricard had turned up with a book on building using traditional methods. Apparently it, and several other useful books, had been found when a small expedition went to Oerba to salvage useful materials. It gave simple, step-by-step instructions on how to construct a dwelling using predominately timber and elbow grease.

The citizens of New Bodhum had thrown themselves into a love-thy-neighbour mentality so quickly it was a little bit unreal to think that just a few years ago they were all living parallel, but distinctly separate, lives on Cocoon. Ricard and a group of volunteers, including Fang and Lightning, spent five months sawing and shaping wood, erecting walls and sanding floors. Vanille, Serah and some of the less physically minded residents handcrafted all the furniture and decorated the interior. The result was a wonderfully rustic log cabin that blended into the woodland without seeming too incongruous. It was small to be sure, but Lightning didn't need a lot of space; just a modest bedroom, a small bathroom and an open plan kitchen-dining room area. There was a wraparound porch with a couple of chairs, and at the end of a long day Lightning liked to sit outside and watch the sun go down.

Lightning threw the covers back and swung her legs over the side of her bed. She ran her fingers along the sturdy oak frame, remembering how it and the rest of the house had been built.

She rose up and padded next door into the bathroom, allowing her fingertips to trail across the wooden walls as she did so, appreciating the roughness of the timber against her fingertips. This house was truly remarkable, and the best part was that it was all built manually using centuries-old techniques. Fang and Vanille were doing the best they could, imparting all the information they could remember from their old lives, but to have it all written down was a real help.

Lightning took a quick shower before returning to her room to dress herself; a pair of loose fitting bottoms and a plain black t shirt. She then wandered through into the kitchen and switched the kettle on, fixing herself a strong cup of coffee before going outside to watch the world wake up.

It was still early, but already the temperature was quite warm, and the sun was starting to beat down. She didn't know if it was the lack of air pollution or just her imagination that made the sky feel much bluer than it ever did on Cocoon. If she looked to the left she could see several half-built structures, more houses, blended into the background. A small dirt track lead from them, past her house, and down to the right, back into New Bodhum proper. It wasn't any more than five minutes away, and because this track was the main route into the forest there were always people, hunters especially, coming and going.

"Oi, Light."

Lightning turned to face the direction of the call. Speaking of people coming and going, Fang was walking up the path with her lance slung over her right shoulder and a bag in her left hand. Lightning smiled and gave a half wave with her free hand.

"Morning Fang. Do you want some coffee?"

Fang shook her head in response, jamming her lance into the ground as soon as she made it to the porch, freeing up her hand. "Nah, I haven't got time. Supposed to be going into the forest, hunting down a Gorgonopsid that got spotted. I doubt it's here, especially alone, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Lightning nodded. She had seen more than enough of the monsters in her time and definitely didn't want to wake up to find one in her house. She gestured at the bag Fang was still carrying, smirking slightly. "Are you going to beat them to death with your shopping?"

Fang raised a sardonic eyebrow in response. "No, cleverclogs. Actually these are for you." She passed the bag over, their fingertips brushing against each other.

"For me?" Lightning took the bag and looked in it. There were at least six books in there, bound in leather with obvious signs of wear and tear. They were clearly relics from an age long past, at least five centuries old, still in wonderful condition. She pulled the topmost one out, _Steppe by Steppe: The Pulsian Guide to Hunting._ She ran a hand reverently over the ancient cover. "This is incredible. Where did you find it?"

Fang shifted her feet. "Well, you seemed really keen on that house-building book Ricard found, and it did come in useful. So I figured the next time someone was going near Oerba they could pick some stuff up out of the old house for me."

Lightning looked at her in surprise. "These were your books? I can't take them…" she tried to hand the bag back, but Fang threw out a hand to stop her.

"No, I want you to have them. I've already read them, and I figure you'd find them useful. See how we used to do things, Gran Pulse style!" She grabbed her lance and made a mock-heroic gesture with it.

Lightning couldn't help but laugh at the other woman's antics. She knew Fang was trying to cover up her thoughtfulness with humour, and she let her off the hook for it. "Well, these will be handy. Now I have something to put on that bookshelf Serah made for me."

Fang grinned, looking relieved that her present had been well received. "Glad you like them. Look, I'd better go find this 'sid before it causes trouble." She paused before adding, "I really think you'd like that hunting one. It'll come in handy soon."

"Sure. We'll catch up later?"

Fang nodded in acquiescence before setting off down the path again. She had barely taken half a dozen steps before she heard Lightning call out behind her.

"The books were very thoughtful Fang, thank you."

She waved her spear in response, not breaking her stride, glad that embarrassment didn't show up very well on tan skin.

Lightning watched Fang until she was out of sight before draining her now-cool cup of coffee and heading back inside. She was touched the huntress had gone out of her way to acquire these books for her, and more than that, was willing to hand over one of the few remnants of her life before crystallisation. She took the books out of the bag, seven in total, and ran her eyes over the titles. In addition to the book on hunting there were a couple of books on local flora and fauna, one book on creating herbal poultices and compresses, and the remaining three seemed to be historical works, giving information on the changing face of Gran Pulse.

As Lightning took each of the books into her hands and placed them on the shelves she could see how dog-eared and tattered some of the pages were. It was obvious that these books had been dearly loved, and Lightning hoped that she could find them as valuable as Fang had. Remembering the brunette's advice on the hunting book, Lightning made sure she picked that one up and took it into her bedroom, placing it on her bedside table. Her eyes panned over to the clock and she cursed softly, realising that she was going to be late if she didn't get a move on.

Since the relocation to Gran Pulse, the Guardian Corps didn't have a very large role to play, what with basic needs for food and shelter taking precedent. It maintained a skeleton staff, but many chose to retrain as hunters or craftsmen. Lightning was still technically on the payroll, but having been out of the loop for a few years she was spending her days helping her new neighbours construct houses. It was physical work, and kept her in good shape.

Lightning hurried back into the living room, grabbing an apple with one hand and putting her shoes on with the other. She hustled out of the front door and headed towards the construction site to start her day.

* * *

Spending eight to ten hours a day on physically demanding work has a way of quickly taking its toll on you, and Lightning found that she didn't have a lot of spare time. The weather was warm and dry, and Ricard was keen on making the structures as watertight as possible before it turned wet. Lightning spent a lot of time shimmying up and down ladders, hammering roofs down and nailing walls together. She had never considered construction as a trade, but there was something about it that was very satisfying. That didn't mean she didn't fancy giving hunting a go. She hadn't forgotten about the books Fang had given her, but she just hadn't gotten around to reading them. Ensuring everyone had a place to live was the top priority; career prospects could come after that.

The sun had just started to dip behind the treeline, and Lightning dropped her hammer into the box in front of her, stretching her tired muscles and hearing the cracks as her bones realigned. It was finally Friday and Lightning was looking forward to downing tools for the weekend and heading to Lebreau's for a drink.

As she tidied her work area and ran a hand through her pink hair to shake the sawdust out of it she could hear Ricard talking to someone round the front of the house. A few moments later she walked outside, and he caught her eye and waved her over.

"Hey Farron, Fang just stopped by. Said 'the girls' were meeting at the bar for drinks in a while if you were interested."

Lightning smiled at him. Ricard was a good man, kind and honest. He was tall with broad shoulders, and would be quite intimidating if he didn't have the temperament of a kitten. He and his wife Lila were both in their early forties and lived overlooking the beach. They were both willing to go out of their way to help anyone in trouble, and their easy, approachable manner made them much loved.

"Thanks Ricard. I think I'm about done for the day anyway."

He gave her a smile and clapped one of his massive hands onto her shoulders, almost knocking her off-balance. "You've done more than enough for one person today, Farron. You're a damn fine worker, but make sure you take a break once in a while. Don't want you to burn out."

Lightning gave him a smile of her own. "I'm okay Ricard. Besides, it's the weekend now, there's plenty of time to recharge my batteries."

Ricard gave her a gentle shove towards to the path. "I'm glad to hear it. Now git. Fang won't wait forever."

Lightning could have sworn she saw the ghost of a wink cross Ricard's face, but she put it down to a trick of the light. "Alright, alright, I'm going, I'm going." She gave him a goodbye wave, and set off towards her house, keen on freshening up before hitting the bar.

It only took a couple of minutes to walk the several hundred metres to her house, and she was up the three porch steps with her hand on the door before she noticed the package on the floor. It was getting too dark outside to see it properly so she went inside, flicking the lights on as she went and dropped it onto the kitchen table.

It was a bundle of brown and grey-ish fur, with small dark blue patches running through it. Lightning unfurled it and held it up to discover that it was a Gorgonopsid pelt. All the spines had been meticulously removed, and the underside had been thoroughly cleaned. There were no stab marks or bullet holes, indicating that whoever had killed it had done so with the minimum amount of fuss.

Lightning cast a professional eye over it. She had killed these creatures by the dozen the first time she was on Gran Pulse, and they didn't go down easily. By the size of it, the pelt belonged to an adult, probably a male. The fur was lustrous and without any blemishes or patches, suggesting that it had been a healthy beast. It was probably no mean feat, first taking it down without damaging the pelt then getting it cleaned. Lightning just didn't know why someone would leave it on her doorstep. Was it even meant for her?

During her journey as a l'Cie she was well used to tripping over items that seemed randomly placed. Everywhere they went it was almost impossible to move without walking into weapon components, accessories, and potions. Hell, she came across more than one upgrade for her gunblade, and those things weren't cheap. Even the monsters they defeated seemed to be paying out gil. She didn't complain about it at the time – no one was short on charms or bracelets, and whatever they didn't use they could sell – but it was strange that hundreds of thousands of gils-worth of equipment was just lying around.

It was odd that it was by her front door though. Someone had presumably left it there for her, but there wasn't a note or anything to indicate who it was from.

Lightning draped the pelt over the large chair next to the fireplace. Didn't Fang mention something about a Gorgonopsid earlier in the week? It was within the realms of possibility that this was the creature the huntress had killed.

She shrugged. It was a wonderful looking skin, and matched the frontier-style of her house very well. She would have to ask Fang about it at the bar later. Lightning gave the pelt one last pat then headed into the bathroom for a quick shower and change.

The sun was just nestled above the horizon, a burnt orange mark against a rapidly darkening sky. Lightning had washed and changed into a short light-brown skirt and a white well-fitting blouse. She had taken her sandals off as she walked across the beach, enjoying the feeling of the sand between her toes. The lights of NORA house gave off a comforting glow, and she could hear laughter as she approached. Slipping her footwear back on as she crossed the threshold, Lebreau caught her eye and had poured her a gin and tonic before Lightning made it to the bar.

"Here ya go Lightning, ice and a slice, just how you like it," said the barmaid with a friendly smile.

"Thanks. Put it on my tab?" replied Lightning, taking a sip and closing her eyes briefly in contentment.

"Sure thing. Serah and the others are out back."

"Great, thanks Lebreau." Lightning bid farewell and wove her way through the bar patrons to the back of the building. Not generally for public use, this was a slightly more private setting than the main bar, predominately used by the ex-l'Cie and the members of NORA. There were a couple of sofas that had seen better days, and two big armchairs, all centred round a massive fireplace that was lit and provided the room with warmth and comfort.

Serah and Vanille were curled up on one of the sofas, talking and giggling quietly, whilst Fang was stretched out in the chair nearest the fire. Lightning rapped on the doorframe before walking in.

"Knock knock."

All three pairs of eyes turned around to face her. Serah leapt up and ran across the room, throwing herself into her sister's arms before Lightning had taken two steps.

"Claire! You're here. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

Lightning carefully hugged the younger girl with her free arm, trying to keep her drink from spilling with the other. "Easy Serah. It hasn't even been a week."

Serah released her sister and pouted slightly. "I know, but I miss you when you're not around. I haven't gotten used to you not living in the house anymore."

Lightning ruffled Serah's hair gently and gave her the smile she reserved solely for her sister before collapsing into the chair opposite Fang and breathing a sigh of satisfaction.

Fang looked over at her. "Tough week?"

The pinkette took a large mouthful of her drink before responding. "Not tough, just hard. Once these houses are up things should settle down."

Fang nodded and as Serah returned to her seat next to Vanille, talk turned to the past week and the atmosphere became relaxed as the four women caught up. Lightning was content to let a lot of the conversation flow over her, and just enjoyed letting the alcohol relax her tired body and mind. It wasn't until Vanille was talking about how she had created the bear skin she used to hold her binding rod that Lightning remembered about her mysterious gift.

"Hey Fang?"

The huntress turned away from the conversation she was having with Serah and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Did you leave a pelt on my front step today?"

For a split second Fang froze, a behemoth-in-the-bow-sights expression on her face. She had hoped Lightning wouldn't bring it up tonight, especially when Vanille was listening.

Vanille, for her part, gasped and swung around to face Fang, her hands clasped together in front of her chest. "Fang! Did you really?!"

Serah looked confused and turned from her sister, to Vanille, to Fang, trying to figure out what they were talking about. Lightning remained still, a little bit baffled at the two Pulsian's reactions. Vanille had her eyes fixed on Fang, eagerly awaiting a response and Fang hadn't moved since Lightning had asked the question.

Seeing as this wasn't getting anyone anywhere, Serah tried to chivvy them along. "So…a pelt?" she prompted.

Lightning shook herself out of her paralysis. "Yes, I noticed it this evening when I went home to get changed. It was neatly folded up by the door, so I didn't think someone left it there accidentally."

"I don't know sis. I can't count the number of items I came across on my journey." She thrust out her right arm and jangled the bracelets she was wearing. "Don't these look good? This blue one improves my magic and the black one makes me stronger!" She flashed her sister a cheeky smile and a V-for-victory sign.

Lightning rolled her eyes at her sister's antics. "Not strong enough to help me tile my roof though, eh?" Serah pouted. "Anyway, I'm sure it was left deliberately. Was it you, Fang?"

Fang seemed to shake herself out of her stupor and glanced over. "Uh, well…yes." She shot Vanille a look, and the bubbly redhead seemed to understand because she didn't say anything. Instead she stood up, dragging Serah with her.

"Well, we're tired, me and Serah are going to bed. Night you guys!" Serah just had time to throw her sister a perplexed look before she was dragged out of the room, and Lightning and Fang were left by themselves.

Lightning had watched the hasty exit and kept her eyes on the door for a few more moments, trying to let her brain catch up. She turned back towards Fang, who was now paying great attention to the fire. She had the impression that this pelt business seemed to be a bigger deal than it first appeared. Vanille seemed to be thrilled but Fang seemed to be uncharacteristically…quiet? Nervous? She wasn't quite sure. Maybe it would be a good idea to change the subject.

"So the new houses are coming on well. We've made good progress this week with the weather being so fine. I've barely had time to sit down it's been so hectic." She gave a little chuckle. "It's like being a l'Cie again but with fewer things trying to kill me"

This wrought a smile from Fang, and she settled back in her chair, looking slightly more comfortable. "But you're enjoying it, yeah?"

"Yes. It's definitely rewarding work. I still think I'd like to get out hunting though once the houses are up." That reminded her about the books. "I must read that hunting book first, though"

Fang perked up when she heard that. "You haven't read it yet?"

Lightning shook her head. "I haven't had the time to even start it."

The brunette seemed to relax slightly after hearing that. She knew the timing between giving the book and giving the pelt was a little quick, so it wasn't surprising that Lightning didn't know the significance of the gift yet. Still, she had seemed receptive to it. Fang gave herself a small grin. What she was doing was a gamble, but if it worked the reward would be worth it. Vanille seemed to be on board, and she was bound to be selling Serah on the idea right now. With those two on her side, there was no way she was going to let the greatest quarry of her life escape her.

Lightning watched the play of emotions across Fang's face as she sipped the rest of her drink. There was definitely something going on here that she was missing, but she was too warm and too tipsy to worry about what it was. She had a brand new Gorgonopsid pelt to dress her house with, and two days off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and added this story to their alerts. I'm so happy that people seem to like it, and I hope the rest of it lives up to expectations!**

* * *

After the weekend had come and gone, it wasn't until Wednesday that Lightning saw her sister again. Wednesday was only a half-day at school, so if Serah didn't have plans with Vanille she would usually bring Lightning a picnic lunch and spend the rest of the day with her. The eldest Farron could hear cheerful whistling coming from down the path and released the piece of wood she was sanding down before straightening up. A slight breeze rustled through the nearby trees and she raised her head into it, smiling as the draft cooled down her heated skin. Serah's whistling had stopped as she approached the site, and delicate footsteps came to a halt. There was a pause before Serah quietly spoke.

"This suits you."

With her eyes still closed and body still facing the wind, Lightning tilted her head slightly and replied "What, being covered in sweat and sawdust?"

"No. Being on Gran Pulse. Being out in the open."

Lightning wasn't expecting the serious response and turned to face her sister, raising an eyebrow as she did.

Serah shifted slightly under the scrutiny but carried on talking. "I mean it. You never seemed very comfortable back on Cocoon, and despite what you say I know you weren't very happy-" Lightning opened her mouth to protest but Serah ploughed on "-and after everything that has happened, it's just…to see you more relaxed, it's nice." She smiled brightly.

Lightning couldn't help but smile in return. "Yeah, well, no one's tried to curse me or force me to be a mythical bodyguard yet, so that's pretty relaxing."

Her sister gave her a light shove, before depositing her basket on the ground and bouncing over to a nearby log pile and sitting down. "I think it's your friendship with Fang. I've never known you to warm up to someone as quickly as her."

Lightning shrugged, opting to sift through the picnic basket for a sandwich to buy herself some thinking time. "Similar personalities, I guess?"

Serah nodded, allowing Lightning to start eating before responding. "Or the fact she came bursting into your life on an ice slide, riding a motorbike and shooting bad guys. That must have been impressive." Seeing as her sister was still chewing, she added slyly, "and she didn't even blink after you slapped her."

Lightning almost choked, coughing to clear her throat. "How…who told you that?"

Serah shrugged nonchalantly. "She did. It was sweet of you to stand up for me like that, but there was no need to hit the poor thing, especially after she just saved you."

"She didn't _save_ me, I had the situation perfectly under control."

"That's not the way she tells it" Serah sing-songed.

Lightning pointedly ignored her sister, focusing her attention onto her lunch instead. Okay, so maybe she didn't actually have a plan for escaping all those PSICOM soldiers. And maybe Fang's entrance was a little bit impressive. And it was actually quite remarkable that she could take a vitriolic, fully-powered backhand to the face and then fight by Lightning's side moments later. Lightning allowed herself to smile as she ate, recalling the memories of the first time she had seen Fang fight, not guns-blazing in a showy rescue, but with a tall, simple spear grasped in one hand.

It was a fighting style unlike anything she had ever seen before. Combat on Cocoon was very technology-oriented and rather complicated. There was thick armour plating protecting every inch of your body, rapid fire machine guns, enormous airships at your beck and call, complex communicators. Frankly, it was a wonder PSICOM and the Guardian Corps had the time to do any fighting with all the maintenance they had to do.

Fang's style of fighting was much simpler. The way she spun and leapt and thrust, all with a seven foot lance and not a shred of protective gear was astonishing. It was a much purer approach to warfare, and showed a complete confidence in her own abilities. Fang was a truly gifted warrior.

Serah quietly watched her sister lose herself in her thoughts and memories, and couldn't help smiling at the expression she saw on her face. Maybe Vanille was right after all, perhaps there was something between Lighting and Fang that ran deeper than friendship. She had only met Fang once before she and Vanille moved to New Bodhum, but she seemed very nice, and if what Vanille said was true, Fang was certainly harbouring strong feelings for Lightning.

* * *

 _Serah was dragged bodily out of the back room and down the corridor to the room she and Vanille shared, her protestations going unheard. She collapsed onto her bed, Vanille following close behind her, enthusiastically clapping her hands together._

" _This is great, Serah! I can't believe Fang actually did that. I always suspected that maybe something kinda like this would happen, but I didn't know that she'd actually do it. This is going to be fantastic, Serah."_

 _As Vanille rambled on, Serah pulled herself upright, holding up her hands, trying to get Vanille to stop talking long enough to explain what she was actually saying. "Whoa, whoa, Vanille. Slow down. What the heck are you talking about?"_

 _As if someone had flicked a switch, Vanille stopped talking and turned to face Serah, eyes twinkling with excitement. "Fang and Lightning. The pelt. I can't believe it, Serah!"_

" _Yeah, me neither" Serah muttered under her breath, wondering just how much the redhead had drunk that evening. Surely it couldn't have been that much, Lebreau only popped in a couple of times. "Maybe you should come and lie down" she said, reaching for Vanille who was still pacing excitedly around the room._

 _Vanille batted her hands away. "No, no, don't you get it? Fang killed and skinned a Gorgonopsid, and gave the pelt to Lightning!" Her hands were gesticulating wildly as she spoke, and she stopped in front of Serah, their eyes locked._

 _Serah raised an eyebrow, a move unconsciously borrowed from her sister._

 _Vanille tilted her head to the side. "Didn't you have courting rituals on Cocoon?"_

 _For the next ten seconds, the only sound heard was the faint chirping of crickets._

" _C-courting rituals?" Serah managed to stutter out. Was that what this was? Who even used the word 'courting' to refer to anything anymore? And what ever happened to a nice bouquet of flowers, or a box of chocolates? Sure, it was clichéd, but at least nothing had to be hunted down and skinned._

" _Uh huh!" Serah's lacklustre response didn't seem to have diminished Vanille's enthusiasm at all. "People did it all the time back in Oerba. It was a hunting and farming community. Being able to prove your strength and ability to provide was really important. It showed you could care for a family. Didn't you do that sort of thing on Cocoon?"_

 _Serah's head was still reeling slightly as she responded. "Um, well, people gave flowers and things if they were dating."_

 _Vanille frowned for a moment, thinking. "Flowers? Like, flowering fruit plants, or herb bushes, that kind of thing?"_

" _What? No. Like, pretty flowers. Roses. For looking at."_

 _Vanille furrowed her brow further, clearly struggling to comprehend the Cocoonian tradition of presenting a paramour with foliage that didn't serve a practical purpose. "So, you would go out and pick flowers that looked nice, and then give them to your suitor?" She didn't seem convinced._

 _Serah shrugged, feeling increasingly guilty-by-association at the apparent lack of effort that used to go into dating. "Well…" she began slowly, "you didn't have to pick them as much as go down the shops and buy them."_

 _Vanille was flabbergasted. "So let me get this right. Your way of proving to someone that you were the best choice of mate they could have, was to nip down the corner-shop and buy them purposeless plants?"_

" _Well, I wouldn't phrase it quite like that…" Serah responded weakly, trying and failing to put a positive spin on it._

" _Unbelievable." Vanille shook her head. It was incredible really, that Cocoon was as developed as it was, given that its citizens didn't seem to have the nous to put effort into anything._

 _Serah was still trying to process the last few minutes; having been talking to Fang one minute, dragged out of the room the next minute, talking about pelts after that, then for some reason trying to defend dating on Cocoon. Her brain latched on to the point that seemed the most pertinent. "Wait. Didn't you say Fang gave a pelt to Light?"_

 _Vanille nodded._

" _And that's some kind of Pulsian dating etiquette?"_

 _Vanille nodded again._

" _Your sister wants to date my sister?!"_

* * *

Serah shook herself out of her stupor, thankful that Lightning still seemed to be caught up in her own head and hadn't noticed her spacing out. Fang was sweet on Lightning. How could she not have seen it? The four women spent a lot of time together when they weren't working, and surely she would have caught a shy, sideways glance or a lingering touch by now.

Maybe she just wasn't looking out for it. She didn't know Fang well enough to spot her tics and, with the best will in the world, Lightning probably couldn't recognise a sultry gaze if it was, well, staring her in the face.

Vanille, bless her optimistic heart, seemed to think that Lightning was going to throw herself into Fang's arms the next time they met, and they would live happily ever after. Serah wasn't nearly so naïve. She knew her sister better than anyone, and she knew that it would take more than one Gorgonopsid pelt, no matter how meaningful the intention, to get Lightning to lower her guard enough to let someone in. That was even if she worked out the significance of the gift. Which she wouldn't.

She was distracted from her thoughts when a small pebble bounced off her forehead and fell into her lap. "Ow, sis!" She rubbed her head, glaring over at Lightning who was smirking.

"Are you planning on eating that apple, or are you just going to hold onto it?" Lightning said, gesturing to the fruit Serah had been cradling for the five minutes.

Serah ignored the gibe and deliberately took a big bite out of the apple. Lightning went back to her sandwich, and there was nothing but the sound of munching for the next few minutes. Serah wondered whether she should bring up the subject of Fang and the pelt again, but she didn't want to push her luck. Besides, she had peered in Lightning's window on her way here and she had seen the fur draped over the chair by the fireplace, her sister's favourite spot. It had obviously been well-received, even if Lightning wasn't aware as of yet that it was a token of affection.

Serah mused on what Fang was going to do next. Vanille seemed convinced that the huntress would just keep slaying and skinning bigger and better creatures until Lightning was won over. Serah tried to gently explain that whilst that would certainly be impressive, there was going to be an undeniable culture clash somewhere. Lightning would be impressed if Fang managed to take down a King Behemoth by herself, but probably didn't have an immediate need for a pair of Gargantuan Claws. Flowers and jewellery may not be hard to procure, but at least they were nice to look at, and could fit through the door of a house. If only there was some way to combine the two factors.

She dropped her half-eaten apple into her lap, mouth agape.

"Serah?" Lightning looked up from her meal, bemused at her sister's odd behaviour.

Serah ignored her. That was it. She had it. She scrambled to her feet, throwing items haphazardly back into the basket. "I gotta go. Uh…school stuff. Can you take care of this basket? Thanks." She pressed a kiss to the side of Lightning's head as she raced past, not giving her time to respond.

Lightning watched the rapidly disappearing figure until she was out of sight, not even bothering to be fully surprised at her eccentricity. Serah had always been a bit quirky, and this heat was enough to send anyone daft. She took a large swig out of her flask, covered the basket back up, and went back to work.

* * *

Serah hurried back down the path to the beach, hoping that Fang was still in the house. She knew she hadn't gotten back from her latest hunting trip until late last night, and with any luck was still resting. She bounded up the steps to NORA house and into the back living room, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Fang lounging on the sofa with a magazine in her lap and a mug in her hand.

Fang looked up when she heard Serah arrive and nodded in greeting. "Afternoon, little Farron."

"Hey Fang." Serah paused to collect herself, not wanting to rush into the conversation. She wasn't sure if Vanille had let on that she knew about Fang's infatuation with Lightning, and didn't know where to start.

Fang glanced across at her, suspicion crossing her face for a brief moment, before looking back to her reading.

Serah sat quietly drumming her fingers, affecting an air of nonchalance before beginning. "So…nice trip yesterday?" she said innocently.

Fang raised an eyebrow. "I was killing Goblins, not taking a spa day."

"So…bad trip yesterday?"

Fang chuckled. "Nah, it was alright. Goblins are swift little buggers but it doesn't take much to dispatch them once they're pinned down."

Serah nodded, and the room fell back into silence. Fang flicked through a few pages, counting time under her breath.

"So, I was talking to Vanille the other day-" Serah began.

The Pulsian threw her magazine onto the table. _Seventeen seconds._ "I knew it."

"What?" Serah said innocently.

"Don't 'what' me missy, I know she told you." Fang pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.

"Told me what?" Serah asked, enjoying Fang's discomfort more than she probably should. She was given a dirty look for her trouble. Much as she would enjoy continuing to wind Fang up, Serah decided to come clean and get to her point.

"So, like I was saying, I was talking to Vanille-"

Fang gave an exasperated sigh.

"-and she told me why you killed a Gorgonopsid for Light. And it's kinda sweet. And I get the idea in principle, but maybe it needs a little bit of alteration."

Fang grimaced. "She didn't like it, did she? I knew I should have gone for a Behemoth."

Serah smiled. "No, she does like it. It's hanging over her chair in her living room. It looks really good," she tried to reassure the huntress. "It's just…that's not the way we used to do things on Cocoon, and I'm not sure she really understands why you gave it to her."

Fang nodded slowly. "So, if I'd done something more Cocoonian, she would have got it?"

Serah shrugged.

"Well what would you have hunted in Bodhum?" Fang asked, scrolling through a mental list of the creatures she remembered seeing when she was trying to find Vanille. Most of what she fought was mechanized. Maybe Lightning would have preferred a Velocycle.

"Actually, that's what I came to talk to you about," Serah began. "See, we didn't hunt on Cocoon. Ever. So it wouldn't be…typical to receive a pelt from a loved one."

Fang frowned. "So what did you do instead?"

Serah sighed internally, half hoping that Fang wasn't going to ask. "Well, we used to give bouquets of flowers, jewellery, that kind of thing." She could see Fang open her mouth to respond, and cut her off before she could say anything, "I know, I know, I've already heard that song and dance from Vanille."

Fang took a sip from her drink, the mug doing nothing to disguise her sceptical expression. "We're a bit more practical on Gran Pulse."

The pinkette chose to ignore her. "I know it seems lazy, and it probably is, but jewellery really is a normal gift for a woman. It's pretty much a universal law; women love pretty things."

If possible, Fang's scepticism became more pronounced. "Well it's not like I can swan off and find a silversmith to sell me some fancy pendant is it? 'Sides, I don't what to give Light a 'normal' present, I want something special." This last part was mumbled slightly into her mug as she raised it back to her mouth to disguise her words.

Serah just about resisted the urge to squeal at Fang's behaviour; she didn't think her ego would appreciate it. She settled for reaching over and squeezing her knee, smiling as she did so.

"What?" Fang groused, still using her mug as a buffer.

"I just think it's really sweet, what you're trying to do for my sister." Serah patted the knee underneath her hand. "And I want to help you. Which is why I've come up with the perfect compromise."

Fang shifted around on the sofa, drawing one leg under her body and stretching her free arm along the back of the cushion. Serah idly mused that the brunette had a wonderfully elongated frame.

"What kind of compromise?" Fang asked, her curiosity overriding her cynicism.

"Well, you want to give her something that proves you're strong and fearless and can provide for her, right? That you can take care of a family?"

Fang almost choked on her own air at the mention of a family with Lightning. She hadn't actually let the soldier know she was smitten with her; it was probably a bit soon to be picking baby names. The briefest image of a small pink-haired girl in traditional Pulsian garb flashed across her mind, and she quashed it immediately. One step at a time.

Serah sat patiently waiting for a reply to her semi-rhetorical question, apparently unaware of the turmoil her words had induced in Fang.

The huntress re-engaged her brain. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, you wouldn't last five minutes as a hunter if you couldn't kill something that was threatening you or your family. Not that Light couldn't do a bloody good job herself, mind you," she clarified. "I know she's capable. Hell she's probably better than me," she paused, fiddling with the mug handle. "It's just…it's a Pulsian thing I guess. An ego thing. Proving that you're bigger and badder than anything Mother Nature can throw at you."

Serah couldn't help but smile a little bit wistfully at the glimpse she had gotten into Fang's psyche. "It must be hard for you and Vanille being the only ones left."

Fang quirked the corners of her mouth. "Sometimes. Everything now is a bit of mix between old and new. It's odd to see Cocoonian technology slap bang in deepest darkest Pulse." She grinned to show she wasn't too affected by this development. "But, if you don't want to the times to change, don't fall asleep for five hundred years, am I right?"

Serah laughed. "Well, it was that mix I wanted to talk to you about, the connection between Pulse and Cocoon. I think I know how you can combine the two cultures to prove yourself to Claire." She paused, and then tacked on, "but I don't know if she'll get it. I don't think she's…well-versed, in dating. She was always looking after me." This was spoken more quietly, in a tone laden with guilt.

Fang put her drink down and shuffled along the sofa, drawing the younger girl into a one-armed hug. "Hey, don't go feeling responsible now. You and I know more than most that life isn't fair." When Serah turned to face her, Fang gave a cocky wink. "It just means I have everything to prove and no one to out-do."

This made Serah laugh again and she playfully jabbed Fang in the side, giggling at her over-dramatic reaction. As the laughter quieted and they settled down again, Serah nudged Fang to get her attention. "Claire deserves to have someone to make her happy. And for what it's worth, I think you can make her happy."

Fang was touched. She knew the Farron sisters had endured their share of hardships, and the fact that Serah trusted her with Lightning was a big deal. "Thank you. I'm going to try like hell to make her happy."

"Good. And remember, if you mess it up, I'm a good shot with a bow." Serah said, her message serious but the effect softened by her twinkling eyes.

"Noted." Fang wasn't convinced the younger woman would actually shoot her if it came to it, but she knew a warning when she heard one. "Now, what's your grand scheme?"

The pinkette leaned towards her conspiratorially. "When's your next hunting trip?"


	3. Chapter 3

Lightning wiped the back of her hand across her brow. The afternoon sun had been beating down on her something fierce, and her strength was almost completely depleted. It was the end of another week and she was trudging up the path towards her house, dying to get out of her dirty clothes and into a hot bath.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she got through the front door, pulling off her shoes and placing them neatly against the wall. Spending two years in the cool environs of Valhalla had made her forget just how sapping it was to work in sweltering heat all day. Sure, lugging great timbers around Pulse wasn't quite the same as patrolling the Cocoonian streets, but both were certainly more physically demanding than life in Valhalla. She spent a large amount of her down-time clearing those blasted feathers up. Lightning had no idea where Etro had procured her armour, but it was an absolute nightmare to maintain.

Padding her way into the bathroom, Lightning started the water running and poured in a generous amount of soap. She didn't normally indulge in long, frivolous bubbly baths, much preferring a simple shower, but she was feeling in need of some pampering. Leaving the bath to fill, she went to the kitchen and poured herself a large glass of wine. She took a couple of satisfying sips before taking both the bottle and the glass into the bathroom.

Stripping her clothes off and placing them in the laundry hamper, Lightning turned the taps off and was just about to step into the water when she had a sudden thought. She popped into her bedroom and grabbed Fang's book from off the bedside table. She had been reading it in bed, but was so tired she could usually only managed a few pages at a time.

Lightning dipped a toe into the water, hissing slightly at the heat. She lowered herself fully in and, as she reclined, let out a groan of pleasure. This was the perfect way to end a day. The warmth was seeping into her tired muscles and she allowed her head to loll back against the rim, luxuriating in the water. Reaching blindly for her wine glass, she managed to grab it by the stem and took a mouthful, feeling the alcohol burn its way into her stomach.

Topping up her wine, Lightning placed it down on the shelf to her right and grabbed her book with her left hand. She opened it to the bookmarked page, which was only a couple of chapters in, and propped her arm up on the rim of the bath, careful to avoid getting the paper wet.

It was an interesting read so far. The author took a rather more informal approach than Lightning would have expected from a hunting guide, meaning that the writing was quite conversational and easy to read. Notes and remarks concerning the landscape were interspersed with little jokes and anecdotes. Each chapter was dedicated to a different area of Gran Pulse, and the reader was taken on a meandering journey across the terrain, with the author pointing out nuances in the flora and fauna. If she closed her eyes Lightning could almost see herself retrace the route she had taken during her first trip to Oerba.

Her eyes were starting to close more and more frequently, thanks to a combination of exhaustion and most of a bottle of wine on an empty stomach, when she was startled awake by a rapping sound. She blinked blearily around the bathroom, trying to fathom out what was causing it, when it sounded again. Lightning groaned, realising that someone was knocking on the front door. Bookmarking her page, she lifted herself out of the water and quickly patted herself down with a towel. Grabbing the silken dressing gown that was hanging on the back of the door, Lightning hurried towards the door, running her fingers through her hair as she did.

There weren't many people brave enough to bother Lightning late at night, so her list of suspects for who was at the door wasn't long. Truthfully she was expecting her sister, but was pleasantly surprised to see Fang waiting patiently on her stoop.

"Fang? What are you doing here?"

She saw a flicker of a wince pass over Fang's face, and she knew that her words had come up sharper than she intended.

"Sorry, I didn't mean…look, come in. It's cold out." She moved out of the doorway to allow Fang to enter the house.

"Are you sure? I know it's late and it looks like I've pulled you away from something." Fang said, allowing her eyes to graze down Lightning's barely-covered body.

Lightning followed her gaze down, her already alcohol-flushed cheeks turning a darker shade of pink when she realised that her robe didn't cover nearly as much of herself as she thought. She hastily tightened the belt and crossed her arms across her chest in embarrassment, not noticing the appreciative look she was being given.

Fang chuckled slightly and stepped passed her into the warmth. "I won't keep you long."

Lightning closed the door behind them and gestured for Fang to sit down on the small sofa. She tiredly curled herself up on her chair, tucking her legs underneath her. "I came to see you yesterday but Vanille said you had disappeared hunting. I thought you had the rest of the week off?"

"Yeah, I'd done my stint for the week, but I had an idea for something, so I nipped off to get it."

Lightning giggled uncharacteristically, causing Fang to look at her with some concern.

"You feelin' alright?"

Lightning nodded, still giggling. "It's the way you say it like it's not a big deal. Like having to go back to the supermarket because you forgot the milk."

Fang just rolled her eyes indulgently, wondering when 'cultural differences' had become the theme of the week. "You're in my world now, Sunshine. None of your fancy mod-cons around here. You want something, you go get it."

Lightning bobbed her head in agreement. "Exactly. Like this pelt." She nuzzled her head into her chair, feeling the surprisingly soft fur of the Gorgonopsid against her face. "It was nice of you to get this for me."

"My pleasure." Fang had a sneaking suspicion the woman sitting opposite her, rubbing herself against a dead predator, was at least three sheets to the wind. She wanted to show Lightning what it was she had been off hunting for, but suspected that it would have to wait until she was sober. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't had time for dinner.

This reminded Lightning of her own missed meal, and of her hosting. "Do you want some food? I was thinking of doing pasta." She started to lift herself out of her chair, but Fang leapt to her feet first.

"I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" Lightning was already sinking back into the upholstery.

"Sure I'm sure. I interrupted your bath, least I can do is knock some grub up." Fang had spent enough time in the house that she knew her way around, and quickly grabbed what she needed from the kitchen.

Little conversation was made over the next twenty minutes. Fang busied herself with the food, knocking up a simple vegetable sauce for the pasta, whilst Lightning watched on. The pinkette was a little bit entranced with how comfortable Fang seemed to be cooking in her kitchen. Her movements were as fluid and graceful as they ever were, and she whistled under her breath as she worked. It was nice to see the usually outdoorsy huntress doing a simple, domestic task, and Lightning's heart surged in her chest when she realised that Fang was doing it all for her.

As she chopped and diced, Fang could almost feel Lightning's eyes follow her around. When she chanced a glance over at her companion, Fang saw that Lightning was twisting the ends of her still-damp hair in her fingers as she stared, and had a rare, relaxed demeanour. The brunette was pleased that she could inspire such calm, and resolved to come over and cook more often.

When the food was ready, she filled two bowls up and took them over to where Lightning was, handing her one before sitting back down on the sofa. Lightning smiled in thanks and twisted the bowl this way and that, admiring the meal from every angle. Ignoring the amused quirk of Fang's eyebrow from opposite her, she dug in. It was surprisingly flavoursome, considering its simplicity, and she hummed in appreciation. "Wow. This tastes really good, Fang."

Fang shrugged modestly. "Just something I threw together."

"I've been 'throwing together' meals for months, and haven't managed to get them to taste like this" Lightning replied, taking another mouthful. The food was already working its way through her system and was soaking up some of the alcohol.

Fang leaned forward, as if imparting a great secret. "Well," she began slowly, "you don't have my patented blend of Pulsian herbs and spices."

Lightning chuckled. "I see. Well, what would one have to do to learn this patented blend?"

Several images flung themselves unbidden to the forefront of Fang's mind, but she ignored them. Instead she sighed in mock-regret and said "Sorry Sunshine, Pulsians only."

"I bet Vanille would help me make it if I asked her."

"I bet you're right. Girl doesn't know one end of a carrot from the other though." Fang retorted.

Lightning tried to bite back a smile. Vanille could give anyone a run for their money when it came to baking, but was remarkably deficient when it came to cooking. It was impressive, really. She toyed with her fork as she thought of a response. "Well, if I want to continue eating like this, I'll have to find some way of bribing you into doing it, then."

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

Eye contact was made and held for a fraction of a second longer than could be considered normal. Slowly, Fang returned her attention to her food, and after a moment Lightning did the same.

* * *

Having a stomach full of delicious food was the final nail in Lightning's coffin. She managed to hold up her end of the conversation whilst they ate, but no sooner had she put her bowl down that she could feel her eyes start to slide shut. She tried to battle against it but the lure of sleep was too strong.

She startled when she felt a hand rest softly against her forehead, but relaxed when she realised it was only Fang.

"C'mon Light, time for bed." Fang cooed quietly, gently pulling her into an upright position.

Lightning groaned at being forced to move, but complied anyway. "Need to do the dishes" she mumbled as she was being led down the hallway.

"It's okay, I'll do them," Fang said, opening the door to the bedroom.

"Haven't tidied the bathroom," Lightning replied, fumbling with the covers to retrieve her pyjamas.

"I can do it."

"I was going to-"

"Light," Fang interrupted. "I've got it. You just worry about getting some sleep." She turned towards the door to give Lightning some privacy but was stopped by a tug on her arm. Returning to face the centre of the room she was surprised to find her vision and arms briefly full of pinkette before Lightning retreated back to the bed.

"Thanks Fang. Night," Lightning whispered.

Fang managed to smile back at her before leaving the room. She gathered the empty dishes on autopilot, still reeling slightly from her and Lightning's impromptu hug. In the time she had known her, Fang could name precisely one person Lightning would initiate proper physical contact with, and that was Serah.

Fang let a pleased grin plaster her face as she began the washing-up. She wasn't narcissistic enough to believe that she possessed some great quality that drew Lightning to her, but it was clear that her affections were returned in one form or another. Time would tell whether Lightning would be willing to embark on a romantic relationship.

Trying not to let her thoughts get ahead of themselves, Fang made short work of the kitchen, wiping down the work surfaces and putting the washing-up away. She popped into the bathroom to drain the tub, and collected the glass and wine bottle on her way out. As she went to step through the doorway, her foot hit something on the floor. She looked down and was pleasantly surprised to find _The Pulsian Guide to Hunting_. She picked it up with her free hand and went back to the kitchen. Stoppering the wine bottle and quickly washing the glass, Fang then turned to examine the book more thoroughly.

Other than the centuries-old aging that was present when Fang gifted it, there didn't seem to be any creases or damage. Fang was pleased that Lightning seemed to be taking care of it. She harboured no notions at all about taking the book back, but it was nice to know that Lightning seemed almost reverential in her treatment of it.

Idly flicking through the pages, the book naturally fell open to where the bookmark lay. It was the beginning of the chapter describing the area surrounding Taejin's Tower.

It was a strange place. Even back when Oerba was thriving, the Tower stood deserted, piercing high into the skyscape above the village. Rumour had it that fal'Cie built it, although its purpose, if any, was unknown. Full of mechanical constructs and engineering, the tower still managed to feel ancient and primeval. It was an unsettling building, and even most of the monsters that walked Gran Pulse avoided it. For this reason, most of Oerba's hunters didn't head that way, although Fang made a point of going once she had passed her hunter's trials.

She stared rather unhappily at the drawing on the page. It wasn't a part of Gran Pulse she was dying to make a return visit to, but the picture reminded her that there was something in there that warranted her attention. She half-wished she had taken care of it during their l'Cie journey, but she knew it wouldn't have been possible.

She let out a breath and put the book down on the counter. Maybe Vanille would want to come with her to sort it out. The red-head wasn't yet aware of what her extra-curricular activities were, but Fang was certain she would approve.

Realising that spending the night pondering in Lightning's kitchen wasn't going to get her anywhere, Fang straightened up. Despite having mentioned it earlier, Lightning hadn't inquired further into Fang's mystery hunting trip, and the brunette wasn't sure what to do with the fruits of her labour. She had left the bag on the porch when she arrived, distracted somewhat by Lightning's state of undress. Logically speaking, it would be best to just take it home with her and wait until another day. She couldn't exactly just leave it there for Lightning to discover either, seeing as it needed a little bit of explanation.

She drummed her fingers against the work surface for a moment, thinking.

Unless. Unless she emptied out the contents of the bag and put them to the use she had in mind when she got them. It was possibly crossing a bit of a line, changing things around in someone else's house, but Fang was fairly confident that Lightning wouldn't mind. The interior design of the house could generously be described as 'spartan', and any small details had only been added at Serah's insistence. That was her reasoning behind this particular gift; it involved her hunting down and killing something, but it was also pretty and could be put to practical use. It was the trifecta of everything a present should entail.

Fang mused over the pros and cons for a moment more, before making her mind up. A famous Pulsian hero once proclaimed 'he who dares, wins', and Fang was going to take that missive to heart. She nodded to herself and headed for the door.

* * *

Lightning could feel herself slowly rousing from sleep, and groaned when she felt the pressure against her temples. She rolled over in the hope that a change in position would alleviate her headache. She lay on her side for another thirty seconds before the discomfort crept back in. She huffed. This was why she tried to avoid drinking on an empty stomach.

She slowly blinked her eyes open and was met with the sight of a glass of water standing on her bedside table. Sitting up slightly, she reached for it and gratefully drank it down. She couldn't remember placing the water there, but she was glad for it because her mouth felt like New Bodhum beach.

Lightning went to place the glass back down on the bedside table, but furrowed her brow when the surfaces met with a light ceramic chink instead of a solid wooden thunk. Throwing the covers back and rolling herself into an upright position, Lightning turned to look at the table.

In the middle of the wooden table-top, underneath a now-empty glass, was a small silver disc that definitely wasn't there yesterday. Lightning peered at it slightly suspiciously before picking it up and examining it.

It was roughly the size of the palm of her hand and only a few millimetres thick. Lightning could see up close that it wasn't a perfect circle, but had dips in the edging. It almost looked like a flower petal. Turning it over, she could see that the underside was a rather dull grey, not nearly as pleasing as the silvery sheen on the topside. She stretched her arm across the bed and held it up to the sunlight, smiling when the silver disc glistened. It wasn't enough to blind you, but there was certainly an iridescent quality to it.

Looking at it again, Lightning had a feeling she had seen it before. It wasn't man-made, that was for sure. Whilst the surface was smooth, it still had little grooves and bumps in it, and the edges were slightly uneven. It felt a little bit like rock, except much lighter and smoother. Perhaps it was part of a shell or a carapace, washed up on the shoreline. Serah and Vanille were constantly finding pieces of flotsam and interesting flints. Perhaps one of them had brought it over; Serah always said how bare her house looked.

She put it back down, and placed the glass on top of it. It was the perfect size to act as a coaster, and Lightning had to admit it looked much neater and cleaner than the faint ring marks that dotted the wood. It was incredible how one small object could change the feel of a room. Maybe it was time to invest in some softening touches.

Vanille knew a thing or two about art and design, so it would be best to ask her opinion first. Furnishing her house had always been secondary to actually getting the thing built, so a lot of the interior did resemble a show-home. If she went to see Vanille then there was every chance Fang would be in, and Lightning could thank her for last night, and apologise for her lack of hosting skills.

Well, Lightning hadn't been planning on doing anything today, but now that she had an idea in her head, she supposed she'd better follow it through. She quickly made her bed, ran a comb through her hair and padded into the bathroom.

Her eyes immediately zeroed in on the silver disc that was on top of the sink. Unlike the one that was in her room, this was slightly larger, about the size of a saucer. Whereas the first one was flat, this was somewhat concave, and clearly doubling up as soap-dish, if the white bar in the middle was anything to go by.

Now, there was every possibility that she might have missed the placement of a new coaster. She was tired and drunk and not paying attention when she went to bed yesterday, and it could easily have avoided her field of vision. But this. She had spent a lot of time in the bathroom last night, and could categorically state that there was nothing resembling a soap-dish in there last she checked.

For a brief second Lightning entertained the notion that someone had broken into her house whilst she slept, but dismissed that thought as soon as it arrived. New Bodhum had a crime-rate of almost zero, and no-one in their right mind would think of breaking into her house anyway. Besides, whoever heard of Breaking-And-Decorating?

Her thoughts returned to Serah or Vanille again, but it was still fairly early on a Saturday morning, and neither were known for being early birds. And they wouldn't have snuck in and out whilst she was sleeping either.

The only real suspect left was Fang. She hadn't brought anything into the house when she came, at least nothing Lightning had noticed. It wasn't like she could smuggle much under those saris of hers. But she had been left to her own devices after she put Lightning to bed.

Fang didn't seem like she'd be one for knick-knacks though. That's one thing the two of them had in common. Their sisters would wax lyrical about colour palettes, cute decorations and décor ideas, whilst they would stand on the outside, rolling their eyes and smirking.

Lightning decided to go into the kitchen and see if Fang, or whoever, had left a note. She walked out into the main living space, flicking the light switch as she went. There was indeed a piece of paper on the kitchen counter, prominently placed next to a coffee mug on a third silver disc. The mug had already been filled with coffee and sugar granules, so Lightning flicked the switch on the kettle before picking up the note.

 _Good morning Light,_

 _How's your head? I wasn't sure how much you had to drink, but I thought you'd benefit from a glass of water and a cup of coffee!_

 _By now you've probably spotted the new additions to your house. I hope you're not angry with me. Do you remember coming across a Sahagin? Those strange blighters, a cross between a fish, a bird and a person? Well, if you get lucky, they sometimes have these perfect scales on their underside. We always used to call them Seapetal Scales, because of the shape._

 _They look wonderful when they've been buffed up, and I just thought they'd really suit your place. I understand if I've overstepped or whatever._

 _Catch up soon._

 _Love, Fang._

Lightning had just read to the end of the note when the kettle started to whistle behind her. She poured the water into her mug and stirred it thoughtfully, mulling over what she had read. She could remember meeting a Sahagin or two. They were an odd evolutionary throwback, like a fal'Cie had just chucked together some spare parts.

She looked up and wasn't even surprised to see Seapetal Scales on the mantelpiece, a large one followed by a small one, followed by a large one, all the way across.

Fang must have gathered together at least a dozen scales, and polished them to a glossy shine. They were quite beautiful, with their delicate floral shape and light colour. It made a focal point of the otherwise plain fireplace, and really brightened the room up. With the Gorgonopsid pelt contrasting nicely on the chair, her house started to feel like a home.

Lightning's stomach knotted when she remembered having the exact same thought last night, when Fang was cooking for her. To distract herself, Lightning ran her fingers over the new coaster on the counter. She couldn't remember any Sahagin she saw having scales like this. If Fang was correct in her assertion that they only 'sometimes' were scaled, then she must have gone to an incredible amount of effort to find them.

She smiled to herself as she finished drinking her coffee. Fang had always been quick to act selflessly, but there was something about this week that seemed different. She wasn't doing these things because she had to, Lightning realised, but because she wanted to. Unless she had suddenly taken great offense to Lightning's lack of décor, which was unlikely. The pinkette didn't know where this change in attitude had come from, but she liked it, a lot. Fang worked hard at not only hunting, but helping out around the village, making time for Vanille, and now finding thoughtful presents for Lightning.

It was time she did something in return. With work hectic for both of them, they hadn't had the opportunity to hang out, and they needed some relaxation. The weather looked like it was going to nice. They could head down to the beach, or out into the forest, even up to Sulyya Springs if they felt particularly adventurous.

Lightning knew she was grinning like a fool again but she didn't care. It would be great to spend the day together, just her and Fang. She whistled quietly under her breath as she quickly rinsed out her mug before going back into the bedroom to change.


	4. Chapter 4

Just under an hour later, once she had washed and dressed and grabbed a snack, Lightning was walking down the path towards the town. It was a wonderfully sunny day, with a slight breeze just caressing the tips of Lightning's hair, causing them to swirl and dance behind her. From her vantage point on top of the rise, she could already see several fishing boats out in the water, their crews calling and shouting to each other. On a day like today it was an enviable job to have, out all day in the fresh ocean spray, laughing and joking with friends. But Lightning had seen the sea when it was rough, and the thought of pitching back and forth, battered by waves was not her idea of a good time.

Continuing her stroll down the path towards the beach, she could hear the sounds of children playing and giggling long before she could see them. She smiled wistfully to herself. She could remember her parents taking her and Serah on trips to the beach. It was one of the few times they had spent time together as a family, without any distractions, before it had all been taken away from them. Lightning had some of her earliest childhood memories at the beach, and after her parents died she couldn't step foot on the sand for years afterwards.

That was a long time ago. A whole world ago, in fact. The pain from those memories had long since faded, but Lightning couldn't help but drift back into her own head whenever she saw families on the sand. She wondered if Serah had the same sort of experience whenever she visited the beach, and made a mental note to talk to her about it.

She gave a polite wave to a couple she passed, and bounded up the steps leading to NORA house. The bar didn't officially open until the evening, but what with all the people staying there, and NORA members coming and going, the doors were almost permanently open. Lightning stepped inside and narrowly missed crashing straight into Lebreau.

"Whoa, sorry Lightning, didn't see you there," Lebreau said, steadying herself against the doorframe, her arms full.

Lightning reached out to adjust a box that was threatening to overbalance. "No problem. You need a hand with these?" She had already taken half the load before Lebreau had a chance to respond.

"Thanks Light. Just into the kitchen, if you don't mind," Lebreau said, leading the way. She shoved the door open with her foot and dropped the boxes onto the counter, her arms sagging in relief. Lightning placed her boxes down rather more sedately. She failed to hide a smirk when the barmaid started to rub her aching shoulders.

Lebreau groaned as she flexed her arms back and forth, trying to work the blood back into them. Hearing Lightning chuckle beside her, she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. We can't all get our strength from omnipotent beings, can we?" she grumbled.

Lightning laughed again. "We could always have swapped. You could have spent three years living at the end of time, trying to stop chaos from destroying the world, whilst I served drinks at the local bar and grill."

Lebreau pretended to mull it over. "Hmm. And would I have had to spend a baffling amount of time peeling and chopping vegetables?"

"No."

"And would I have had to deal with people who think they can handle their booze right up to the moment it becomes painfully clear they can't?"

"No."

"It's sounding pretty tempting, I must admit. But would I have had to have worn that feathery half skirt get-up?"

"Yes. It was Etro's whole signature look."

Lebreau sucked air in through her teeth and shook her head in mock disappointment. "Ah, shame. That's a total deal-breaker for me."

Lightning tilted her head to the head, feeling vaguely insulted. "What was wrong with it?"

"Nothing when it was on you. Actually it was pretty hot." The flirty barmaid trailed off for a moment before Lightning cleared her throat. Lebreau grinned and shrugged unapologetically. "It's just…" she gestured her hands up and down her body, "I don't really think it's my bag, y'know?"

She was dressed in her usual fashion, purple bikini top over a white sheer blouse, microshorts, thigh high stockings and red shoes. On some people it might have been revealing than was appropriate, but Lebreau managed to wear it well. Lightning tried to replace the image in front of her with one of Lebreau in Etro's armour. The expression on her face must have said it all because the brunette started giggling.

"See. Isn't happening, is it?"

Lightning shook her head. "I guess feather down isn't as universal a fashion statement as Etro would have me think."

Lebreau giggled louder. "Maybe that's how she chooses her champions, by their ability to pull off unique outfits," she teased. As she spoke she started to unpack the boxes they had brought in, pulling out vegetables and other foodstuffs. She waggled a small knife. "So champ, want to show off your blade skills?"

Lightning tried to sidle closer to the door. "Actually, I only came to see if Fang was in."

Lebreau paused thoughtfully in her potato peeling. "I haven't seen her yet today. Which is weird, because that girl normally gets up at the same time as the birds."

"She didn't leave my house until late last night," Lightning offered.

Clearly this was the wrong thing to say, because Lebreau almost slipped over in her haste to spin round and face her. "Really," she purred. "With you long into the night, was she?"

Lightning was a little nonplussed, but nodded anyway.

The barmaid raised an eyebrow and smirked. "And what did you two crazy kids get up to?"

A little unsure of where this conversation was going, and why, Lightning restricted herself to a slightly guarded reply. "Talking. Eating. The usual stuff."

Lebreau was absolutely dying to make a gag about 'eating' but just about managed to restrain herself. Lightning obviously had no idea what she was trying to hint at, and she didn't want to give the game away. She just hoped she was there to see the soldier's face when she finally caught a clue.

To keep from saying any more than was her place, Lebreau waved in the direction of the door. "Well, you know where her room is. See if you can't get her out of bed." As Lightning started to walk out she couldn't help but mumble "or get her into it," under her breath.

Thankfully the pinkette didn't hear her. "I'll see you later 'Breau. Don't work too hard."

This comment made Lebreau realise she had been left alone to prep the food for dinner. "Hey! Come on Light, aren't you going to help me with these potatoes?"

The pinkette popped her head back around the doorframe. "Well, I asked if you wanted to swap jobs, but you didn't like my armour."

"Isn't it in your job description to save damsels in distress?" Lebreau mock-pouted.

Lightning raised an eyebrow. "You hardly qualify as a damsel in distress. Besides, I've seen you with that rifle of yours, and I'm sure you can handle anything the vegetables throw at you."

"What about the time-honoured code of chivalry?"

"I've retired."

Lebreau relented. "Fine. Just spare me a thought when you're off having a lovely time and I'm stuck in here."

"I will." She disappeared again.

Lebreau shook her head as she turned her attention back to her chopping. She didn't resent the other woman for not wanting to stick around in the kitchen when she could be outside, totally oblivious to Fang's attention. With any luck Yuj and Maqui would be back from their rounds soon and she could rope them into helping out. They were the ones that did most of the eating anyway.

Making her way to the living quarters, Lightning turned down the corridor but drew up short when she saw Vanille. The usually perky redhead was leaning against the wall, boring a hole into Fang's bedroom door with her eyes. She was chewing her nails and wearing a really pensive expression.

Lightning paused a few paces away. "Vanille?" she said hesitantly.

Vanille looked up and relief washed over her face.

"What's going on?" Lightning asked.

"I don't know. Fang's been in a weird mood all morning, and she won't talk to me, and now she's going out and won't tell me where she's going," Vanille blurted, wringing her hands together with worry.

Lightning felt a cold thrill of dread run down her spine, but kept her outward appearance calm. Since leaving her house last night, two people have mentioned how out of character the ever- composed huntress was. Either Lightning did or said something stupid, which was unlikely but not out of the realms of possibility, or something bad had happened between then and now. She didn't want to think what.

Vanille was still looking at her with hopeful eyes. "Please Lightning, won't you talk to her? She'll listen to you, I know it."

"I…but…" Lightning floundered.

"Please? I've tried but it didn't help. And I'm really worried." Vanille pleaded; pouting slightly in a move Lightning just knew she had stolen from Serah in order to manipulate older sisters. It would be irritating if it wasn't so heart-breaking.

"Fine," she sighed.

Vanille squealed and threw her arms around her neck. Lightning patted her awkwardly on the back before pulling away. "But since I'm helping you, why don't you do me a favour and help Lebreau. She could use a hand in the kitchen."

"Lebreau won't let me near the stove since that one time I accidentally set a pan of water alight."

Lightning knew better than to ask how that was possible. "Well, stick to washing plates or wiping tables or something."

"Alright," Vanille agreed. "Just please make sure that Fang is okay." She waited for Lightning to nod before she bounded away.

Lightning took a deep breath before raising a hand and rapping slightly on the closed door. When there was no reply after a few moments, she knocked louder.

"Vanille, please, I said I'm fine," Fang called out in frustration.

"It's me." Lightning said quietly.

Fang didn't respond, so she took that as an implicit invitation to enter. Cautiously opening the door, Lightning walked in to find Fang sitting on the end of her bed, haphazardly throwing items into a shoulder bag. Even from a few yards away, Lightning could see the dark marks under her eyes, indicating that the brunette hadn't slept well, if at all. Her heart went out to her.

It was clear that Fang wasn't going to be the one to get the ball rolling. Lightning closed the door behind her and gently sat herself down on the bed. Fang was still violently throwing potions around.

Lightning didn't really know what to say. Heart-to-heart conversations weren't really her forte; that kind of thing got left to Serah. Her own words tended to sound a bit clunky and insincere. But, Fang was her friend and she was clearly hurting, so Lightning was going to try and help.

"Fang?" she began tentatively. "Is everything alright?" She winced inwardly at the stupidity of her own question.

She got a grunt in response.

Lightning fell silent again as she tried to work out her next move. There were no injuries or marks on the Pulsian to suggest that she had been attacked, which was relieving. Fang wasn't the type to get herself into a confrontation with anyone unless it was highly justified, and seeing as Lightning hadn't stepped over the littered, broken bodies of would-be assailants on her way in, that theory could probably be discounted.

Given that she was the last one to see Fang before this morning, Lightning could only assume that she was the reason for Fang's foul mood. She had made Fang cook then proceeded to fall asleep, leaving the brunette to do all the cleaning. She remembered Fang claiming not to mind, but she had been out hunting all day, hunting for a gift for her, and Lightning had done nothing to show appreciation.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked quietly.

Fang looked up so quickly Lightning was surprised she didn't get whiplash. "What? Why would you think that?"

Lightning shrugged a shoulder. "Vanille and Lebreau said you'd been acting strangely, and I was the last one to see you before that started happening."

Fang frowned. "What did Vanille say?"

"Only that she's worried about you. I am too."

Fang gave a small smile. "You haven't done anything wrong. I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well, is all."

Lightning smiled in return and tried to go for levity. "I can see that. You look like hell."

This got a snort and a playful shove in response. Lightning shoved back, and they laughed quietly before falling silent. Fang went back to fiddling with the straps on her bag.

"Are you going out again?" Lightning asked.

Fang puffed. "Yeah. I was kinda reminded of something I need to take care of."

She clearly wasn't at her best and Lightning didn't relish the idea of the huntress going out hunting again. "You've been working all week, Fang. You must be exhausted. Can't it wait?"

The brunette pulled a face. "I want to get it over and done with." She stood up, pulling her bag on and reaching for the lance that was propped up in the corner.

Lightning stood up with her. "Well, let me come with you."

"I knew you were going to say that."

"Great, it's a done deal then," Lighting answered, rather flippantly. "Let me go and get my gunblade." Without waiting for a reply, she made for the door.

"Wait," Fang called from behind her. She turned around. "You don't even know where we're going."

Lightning shrugged. "Knowing my luck, I tend to find myself in situations where a gunblade is required."

"Ha." Fang said. She then tilted her head as if trying to see Lightning from a different angle. "I meant, you don't even know where we're going, and you're coming along to help anyway."

"Oh." This gave Lightning pause. She hadn't really thought about her actions. "Well, it's obviously something that is important to you. And if I can help, then I want to." She shifted her weight before adding. "Besides, I came round to see if you wanted to spend the day together. Admittedly I was thinking more along the lines of sunbathing or a nice walk in the forest, but I'll take an expedition."

Fang didn't say anything for a moment, just carried on staring at Lightning. The pinkette was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable, but stayed where she was. Finally Fang broke into a grateful smile. "Thank you, Claire."

Lighting was shell-shocked. No one ever called her by her real name. Everyone knew what it was, but no one ever used it. For Fang to so casually use it in conversation was an unprecedented event. Clearly this task of Fang's meant more to her than she was letting on.

Seemingly unaware of the turmoil she had inflicted in her companion, Fang continued. "So, I'll meet you out front in ten minutes, alright?"

"Sure." With that, Lightning disappeared through the door.

Fang breathed out a sigh of relief as soon as Lightning was out of the room. She hadn't meant to use the other woman's real name, but she was just a little overwhelmed at the trust Lightning seemed to place in her. She hadn't tried to pry any information about of Fang, didn't spout hackneyed phrases about shared problems, barely blinked at Fang's reticence. She just nodded and decided that a problem of Fang's was one she was going to solve.

Fang grinned. She knew there was a reason she liked that woman.

Nine minutes later and Lightning was walking back to NORA house, this time with her gunblade and supply satchel in tow. Fang was leaning against the wall, idly twisting her lance through her hands. When she heard Lightning approach, she straightened up and stepped forward.

"Ready?" She asked.

"After you," Lightning smiled, gesturing with an open palm.

Fang set off towards the path leading north out of town, and Lightning fell into step beside her. The path ran for several miles through the woods that surrounded one side of New Bodhum, cutting a meandering line through the otherwise untouched scenery. When the trail ended and the trees ran out, you found yourself in a vast expanse of open ground. From here you could access almost any area of Gran Pulse.

Knowing this, Lightning wasn't any closer to working out what their final destination was going to be. There were several places she could rule out, like the Faultwarrens, which were too far away for a day trip. She assumed it was going to be a day trip anyway; Fang didn't seem to be carrying any camping equipment. Oerba, Yaschas Massif and Sulyya Springs were in this direction, all with their own pros and cons.

From out of the corner of her eye, Fang could almost see the cogs whirring in Lightning's head as she mused. It was cute the way her brow developed a slight crease when she concentrated.

"Taejin's Tower," she said, rather abruptly.

This pulled Lightning out of her thoughts. "Sorry?"

"That's where we're going. Taejin's Tower," Fang repeated, eyes on the path in front.

"Oh."

Fang didn't elaborate any further, so Lightning didn't ask any more details. She reasoned that the purpose of their outing would become clearer in the fullness of time.

To try and get a conversation going, and maybe pull Fang from the funk she seemed to be in, Lightning decided to change the subject.

"I haven't thanked you for last night yet, have I?" she asked.

"Last night?" Fang queried. With one thing and another, the evening she had spent with Lightning and the gifts she had left for her had nearly slipped her mind. "Oh yeah, last night, right." She could feel herself heating up, and hoped her embarrassment wasn't going to show.

"Well, thank you. Truly. I'm sorry I left all the cooking and cleaning to you , but last night was one of the most relaxing evenings I have had in a long time." Lightning said sincerely.

"Yeah, me too. And I was happy to do the cooking." Fang replied. At Lightning's raised eyebrow she added, "It's true. Don't tell Lebreau, but I quite like being in the kitchen. Part of the training to become a hunter involved learning how to butcher your kill, and what the different cuts of meat on it were. And once you knew what the meat was, you knew how it should be cooked, and what you should serve it with. I became a dab hand after a while."

Lightning must have looked impressed because Fang felt the need to add. "People think hunters are all strength and no sense, but we aren't as daft as we look."

"I don't think you look daft at all."

Fang scratched the back of her head awkwardly, and Lightning smirked.

"…except for that twig sticking out of your hair."

Fang immediately patted her hair to find the offending object, and scowled at it when she pulled it out. Lightning laughed at the expression on her face.

"Good to see you laughing at my expense," Fang grumbled, not quite managed to sound as irritated as she looked. "What's got you in such a cheery mood, anyway?"

"I think you know the answer to that," Lightning said calmly.

Fang misjudged her step and stumbled slightly, flinging an arm out for balance. Etro, she must be more exhausted than she thought. She would never have asked such a patently daft question otherwise. Lightning was always going to bring up the subject of Seapetal Scales, and Fang cursed herself for not seeing it coming. She hated not having slept well, because her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool, and there was no way she would manage to get to the end of this conversation without revealing more than she intended.

Lightning continued. "The Scales look really good above the fireplace. I didn't realise how bare the house was until they were added. Where did you get the idea from? I didn't have you down as an interior design buff."

"Well, I'm not really, but I do know a thing or two about creature components," Fang said, keeping a wary eye on the ground in case she tripped again.

"It shows. I would never have thought of using a Scale as a coaster, and certainly not a soap-dish."

Fang tried to analyse Lightning's tone to see if she was impressed or irritated at the idea, but couldn't work it out. She decided to ask, wanting to know if her hard work had come to fruition, or if she'd made an error in judgment. "Are they okay? I mean, I know it's a liberty, just wandering around your house, changing things without asking you first."

"I really like them," Lightning replied, using an earnest tone that Fang very rarely heard from her. "Honestly. With the Scales and the pelt, the house seems like a different place. I didn't realise the room was missing them until they were there." She gave that little half-smile that never failed to make Fang's heart flutter.

"Good," she breathed. "Good, you like them. I was worried you wouldn't."

For a moment, Lightning wondered whether that anxiety was what gave Fang a sleepless night. With the effort she had obviously gone to in order to procure them, it would make sense that she was concerned over whether they would be well received.

"Well, I do. And I'm still not sure why you went to such effort for me, but I'm grateful you did."

"It wasn't an effort-" Fang tried to protest, before she was cut off by the disbelieving look Lightning was giving her. "Alright, fine, it was an effort."

"How many Sahagin did you have to take down before you found that many Scales, anyway?" Lightning asked the question that had been on her mind since she read the note.

Fang hesitated before replied. Anything that lived on Gran Pulse was considered fair game to hunters, especially when the meat could sustain several people for several weeks, and definitely when the buggers were trying to eat you first. That wasn't an issue for Fang, or for anyone who wanted to survive longer than a couple of days.

The issue was Fang didn't want Lightning to know just how much effort she had gone to. After her rather enlightening talk with Serah, Fang had been tipped off about a group of Sahagin that been making a nuisance of themselves near one of the local bathing pools. Figuring that she could kill two fish-birds with one stone, Fang had immediately set out in pursuit. A seasoned huntress like herself shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to get there, dispatch the creatures, field dress them and harvest the Scales, right?

Wrong. Something must have really ticked those Sahagin off, because they weren't going to go down without a fight. And even getting them into a fight in the first place was an achievement. Normally these creatures only needed to catch a glimpse of you and they would charge. This time however, they just circled around, squawking and shrieking, bobbing and feinting. Despite her reflexes and long span, Fang couldn't land a single hit for several minutes. She focused her attention on the Sahagin closest to her, jabbing towards it, drawing it away from the group. Eventually she managed to pin it down, just avoiding a blow to the head before running it through with her lance.

This enraged the others into attacking all at once. Fang managed to dive to the side before she was trampled, keeping a solid grip on her lance as she did. As she rolled back into a crouching position, she thrust her lance forward and speared a second Sahagin through the neck.

A fin-foot connected with the small of her back, and she was thrown onto the ground. She cursed to herself, and shifted her arm just before a large beak stabbed the spot where it was. With her free hand she landed a solid blow between the Sahagin's eyes, and it fell backwards, dazed.

The fourth one came bearing down on her, flapping its wings angrily and screaming. Fang struggled to her feet, hastily wrenching her lance free from where it was impaled. The beak and claws raked at her skin, and a fin across her face obscured her vision. Blindly sweeping her lance backwards, she hit the Sahagin across the legs and knocked it to the ground. It screeched as it landed, flailing desperately to regain balance. Fang dispatched it with a strike to the back of the head.

The half-blind Sahagin she had stunned earlier had struggled upright, and was swaying slightly, trying to focus. It was hissing as Fang approached, snapping at her with its beak. She aimed a heavy over-the-head shot at it, but the creature must have seen it coming because it danced to the right and Fang nearly overbalanced.

Growling to herself, Fang regained her footing and made one, two, three rapid stabs at the Sahagin. It might have had the skill to avoid her first attack, but hadn't anticipated a fast counterstrike, and it fell to the ground, dead from a thrust through the heart.

As the battlefield lay blessedly silent, Fang panted heavily as she waited for her heart-rate to return to normal. Sahagin were never normally as vicious as this. Maybe they were struggling as much as everyone else, having to cohabit with a new species. The alternative was that there was a dangerous predator on the prowl, but someone would surely have spotted it by now.

After Fang had recovered, she went to investigate the state of the Sahagin and was pleased to note that three out of the four carried Seapetal Scales. Each of them seemed to be a good size and in good condition.

Lady Luck was further on her side because no sooner had she removed the Scales that a band of off-duty hunters entered the clearing. They were planning on taking the evening to relax in the springs, and weren't expecting the stumble across a scene like this. Once Fang had explained why she was here, and what she was planning with her recently appropriated bounty, they had kindly offered to field-dress her kills and take them back to town.

This left a grateful Fang to clean herself up in the warm spring water and spend half an hour gently buffing the Scales to a gentle shine, before heading back to Lightning's.

She realised she had spent too much time thinking and hadn't answered Lightning's question. "Uh, four. It was four Sahagin," she said hastily.

"Wow. That's impressive, Fang," Lightning said, giving a professional nod to her hunting skills.

Fang stopped walking. "It was worth it," she said, fixing her eyes on Lightning.

The pinkette stopped with her, and a pretty blush stained her cheeks. She met Fang's eyes for a moment, but soon looked away, unsure of how to respond to the sudden swirling emotion she saw there.

Fang coughed lightly, aware of the change in mood. "We should get shifting if we want to make it to Taejin's Tower and back by nightfall," she said.

"Right." Lightning straightened up. "Come on then." She set off once more, only to be briskly overtaken by Fang who jogged past.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" she called back.

Lightning was surprised, but only for a moment, before she broke into a run and chased after the laughing huntress, both a blur of colour against the verdant backdrop.


	5. Chapter 5

By the time the pair had made it through the forest and across the plain to the path that led to Taejin's Tower, the sun was high overhead and beating down on them. They had made good progress from New Bodhum to here, having stopped only once for a quick lunch in the shade before moving on. By Lightning's calculation, the trip had taken roughly three hours, which was good going. Depending on how long their mission here would take, they could probably expect to be back in town by the time the sun went down.

They hadn't talked much after their chat about Fang's hunting trip. Lightning wasn't sure how to react to the subtext behind Fang's words, and Fang herself was trying to conserve her strength. Each woman had an eye on their surroundings anyway, both hyperaware of the dangers that could befall them at a second's notice.

Thankfully, nothing ventured even close to them during their trek. Either the creatures of Gran Pulse recognised two women on a mission when they saw them, or they were taking advantage of the warm weather to relax in the shade. Whichever reason was true, Fang and Lightning found themselves all alone in front of the formidable ruin, save for a pair of circling birds. Privately, Fang thought that was a sign that she and Lightning were about to be turned into carrion, but kept that opinion to herself.

Lightning squinted up at the stonework. Her gaze swept from the bottom half, still standing and punching into the sky, across to the collapsed top half, defying physics by lying diagonally downwards, with only the barest suggestion of support. If she hadn't of spent several hours traversing through it already, she wouldn't have thought it safe to stand in.

"So," she said, once she had completed her scrutiny, "what's the plan?"

Fang breathed out, moodily staring at the imposing main door. Lightning waited patiently for the huntress to open up about what bothered her about this place.

Fang paced forwards a few steps, before stopping and pacing to the side. She was still eyeing the tower, weighing it up as she would any potential threat. Lightning half expected her to bare her teeth and growl.

After a couple of minutes of this, Fang huffed and threw herself down onto a nearby rock, spear clattering to the ground beside her. Her jaw was clenched and her shoulders were slightly hunched over, as if there were a great weight on them.

Lightning went and delicately sat down next to her, so close their knees just brushed together, in a gesture of silent support. From this position, the fatigue in Fang's features was even more noticeable, and her usually sun-kissed skin was pale and washed out. Lightning worried her bottom lip, debating what she should say, if anything.

She always remembered when she was upset as a child, her mother would come and sit quietly beside her for a few minutes before she started speaking. Lightning had asked her about it once, somewhat miffed that she was getting ignored when it was obvious she was distressed. Her mother had replied that by sitting in silence, it gave their souls the opportunity to meet and harmonise. The beginning of the conversation went unspoken, allowing their spirits to communicate, so when the talking started, both parties were on the same page and knew what the other was thinking.

Lightning had scoffed at the time, being only six. She had assumed that knowing the right thing to say was part-and-parcel of being a parent, rather than spiritual communication.

Her mother had always been very comforting though.

Beside her, Fang started talking. Her voice sounding like it was coming from a long way away. "You know, no one knows why this tower is here? It's been here forever, and no one has a clue why."

Lightning glanced over at the tower. It was her least favourite area of Gran Pulse during her first visit. Back and forth, up and down all those floors. "It must have been impressive when it was erect," she said.

"I guess. No one had ever heard of anyone who was alive when it was still standing. It was always just there, in the background, out of the corner of your eye. Like it was waiting." Fang shuddered slightly. "The whole place used to freak me out. All that technology was just sitting in there. All the cogs still turned, and the elevator still ran, and the automatons still paced the halls. Like someone was keeping it all going, but no one knew who or why."

Lightning felt a bit unnerved listening to this. Having an alien monstrosity like that literally hanging over your head must have made Oerban life uncomfortable. "I actually just got to the section in your hunting book where it talks about this tower. But it didn't describe it like that," she trailed off.

"I know." Fang replied. When Lightning cocked her head to look at her, she clarified. "That you got to that section of the book. I found it when I was tidying."

"Oh," said Lightning. She put two and two together. "So is that what made you think of coming here, because it was in the book?"

"Kind of." Fang said, absently. She rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a small leather-bound notebook. She handed it over to Lightning, who accepted it curiously. "Go on," Fang encouraged.

Lightning ran a hand gently down the front cover, feeling the softness of the supple leather against her fingertips, before opening it to the first page. Written out in Fang's neat cursive was a list of sorts. She skimmed down the page.

 _Archylte Steppe (Central Expanse) | Archylte Steppe (Central Expanse) | Ectopudding_

 _Archylte Steppe (Way of the Ancients) | Archylte Steppe (Haerii Archaeopolis) | Tonberry_

 _Mah-habara Subterra (Twilit Cavern) | Mah'habara Subterra (Twilit Cavern) | Ambling Bellows_

 _Oerba (Village Proper) | Oerba (Village Proper) | Ceratosaur x10_

That last entry rang a bell in the back of Lightning's mind. She could remember fighting those Ceratosaurs, on the path overlooking the beach in Oerba. That was a fight she wouldn't want to repeat in a hurry. One Ceratosaur wasn't much of a threat on its own, but in a whole pack they were a force to be reckoned with. Every time you killed one, two more would take its place.

She looked at the page again. There was a location, followed by another location, usually the same but sometimes different, followed by a creature type. They didn't seem to be written down in any order, but when Lightning flicked through the book, the next few pages were written in the same way, and many entries had a strikethrough.

She suddenly remembered why the fight with the Ceratosaurs stuck out. Contrary to popular opinion, Lightning and the others actually tried to avoid getting into battles. They were on a bit of a clock, and couldn't stop for every Tom, Dick and Hoplite that wanted to start something.

But this fight came at the behest of a Cie'th Stone. They must have come across a few of them in their time, not really paying them much mind if they weren't directly on the path from Vallis Media to Oerba, but Fang had been insistent that they fulfilled its wishes. No one had protested, seeing as the stone and the Ceratosaurs were only a few hundred yards apart, and it was a lot safer than leaving them roaming around all night.

Lightning looked back over the book. Now that she knew what she was looking for, she could remember some of these places as having Cie'th Stones in them. Presumably the first column was where the stone was, the second column was for where you had to go, and the third column was for what you had to kill when you got there.

Seeing where this was going, Lighting skimmed through the pages until she came across _Taejin's Tower (Fifth Tier)_ written towards the bottom of a page.

"So, we're here for a Cie'th Stone mission?" she asked.

"Right," said Fang, not surprised that Lightning had managed to put two and two together. "We didn't really stop and explore when we came here the first time, but I put my head around one of the doors on the fifth level and saw a Cie'th Stone in the corner. So I added it to my notebook. I guess I'd forgotten about it until now." She looked unhappily at the ground.

"Is this what you do in your spare time? Find these stones and defeat the marks?" She frowned. "I don't know Fang. That seems dangerous."

"I don't take on anything more than I can handle," Fang retorted.

"I didn't mean-" Lightning started. "It wasn't a dig at your abilities. I just don't like the idea of you deliberately going out and finding danger."

Fang cracked the first smile Lightning had seen in several hours. "You get that I'm a hunter, right?"

Lightning rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Why do you do it, anyway?"

She knew this was the wrong question to ask by the way Fang's back went ramrod straight for a moment, before she relaxed slowly into her former position. "Do you remember how a Cie'th Stone comes about?" she queried.

"Isn't it when a Cie'th finally dies?" Lightning said, after thinking for a moment.

"That's it," Fang said dully. "If you fail your Focus as a l'Cie you get turned into a Cie'th. Then you spend years roaming as a monster before you eventually wither and petrify and get turned into a Cie'th Stone."

Lightning shook her head. "It's an awful thought."

"That's not the worst bit. As a Cie'th your human perception is almost totally gone. There's a little bit of you left, but mostly it's the monster. When you get turned into a Cie'th Stone, it's like the monster dies, but your human mind lives on."

Lightning flinched at the idea.

Fang continued. "You can remember all the years you spent as a mindless brute, all the people you hurt, all the things you destroyed. Everyone you ever knew and loved is long dead, maybe by your own hand. Your whole life was changed in an instant by the whim of a fal'Cie. When you finally stop, all you can do is cry out into the empty world, and pray someone will complete your Focus so you can finally rest." She drew her knees up to her chest.

"Fang-" Lightning said, but she was interrupted.

"I can hear them," Fang said. "The Cie'th Stones. When I sleep, I can hear them. They call out to me, 'complete my Focus, complete my Focus'."

Lightning took a sharp intake of breath, and gripped Fang's knee. She wasn't sure whether she was trying to ground Fang or herself.

"Since our l'Cie days I've heard them. I guess because my brand got all messed up it made it easier for them or something." Her voice cracked a little and she stopped. Lightning tightened her grip, and Fang lay her hand over the top of hers, as if she were afraid she might leave.

She carried on faintly. "I didn't sleep a wink last night. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back on Cocoon. We were nearly at the end, so close to Orphan's Cradle, but then you and Vanille and the others…in front of me…you just stopped and-" Fang's voice caught and she couldn't continue.

"-and we were turned into Cie'th," Lightning finished for her.

"It was awful," Fang whispered. "You were there and then…you were just gone. Transformed. You changed, and then it was like I could almost feel your pain. It was like screaming in my head. And then I could hear all the others as well, clamouring for attention."

Lightning removed her left hand from Fang's knee. When she moved to protest, Lightning quickly threw that arm about Fang's shoulder and placed her right hand on its spot, drawing Fang into an embrace.

Fang relaxed into the hug, her shallow breaths slowly evening out. Lightning traced mindless patterns down Fang's arm, trying to convey comfort through touch.

Somehow it always slipped Lightning's mind that Fang wasn't actually cursed in the same way that the rest of them were. Vanille's brand reactivated after she woke up from crystal stasis and Lightning and the boys had brand new ones. Having been transformed into Ragnarok in order to scar Cocoon, Fang got the dubious honour of having to do it again, with the added bonus of waiting for her friends to lose their humanity. It must have been awful for Fang to watch everyone's brands advance, to have a constant visual reminder that they could be snatched from her at any given moment.

"You know nothing like that will ever happen," Lightning said quietly. "My brand isn't active anymore. None of ours are. We're all together again, and that isn't going to change." She squeezed Fang tighter to emphasize her point.

"I know," said Fang, a touch of exhaustion tinging her tone. "It just really freaked me out. Then I guess this tower got in my head because next thing you know, all I can see is this place, tall and creepy and crawling with Cie'th." Then she added, almost to herself, "I always hated this place."

Lightning heard her. "Maybe coming here wasn't a good idea," she suggested. "We could just call it a day, and perhaps try another time?" Privately she added, _when you don't look like you're going to drop down of exhaustion, and aren't haunted by nightmares._

Fang leaned further into Lightning, allowing her head to drop down onto her shoulder. If she and Lightning had shared an intimate hold like this yesterday, or any other day, she would have been thrilled. Now it felt like a bit of a cheap victory, getting what she wanted only because she was in need of comfort.

She tried to pull away, to get some space between them before she became addicted to the feel of the pinkette, but Lightning tightened her grip. Fang didn't even pretend to put up a fight before she relaxed again.

It would be so easy, she thought, to turn my head and kiss her, to tell her how I feel. It was tempting, so tempting, but she knew it wasn't the time, and it definitely wasn't the place for confessions.

"So how about it?" Lightning asked. "Go back and sit on the beach? Or we could just stay indoors if you'd prefer something quieter."

Fang sighed heavily, the sudden exhalation of air tickling Lightning's collarbone. "I must have known the Cie'th in tower," she said, ignoring for the moment Lightning's attempt to get her to call the mission off.

"What do you mean?"

"The Cie'th Stones. They were all people once, people who were turned into l'Cie and couldn't complete their Focus." Fang gestured with a thumb over her shoulder, pointing at where Oerba lay. "That's the nearest settlement to here, so the odds are that it's someone I know."

Lightning was flummoxed. She'd never thought about the people who used to be ordinary before they were turned into monsters. Truth be told, she never spared much time thinking about Cie'th at all. To her, and probably everyone else, they were just another type of monster, just something else to kill. Something that was savage and mindless and needed to be destroyed.

But to Fang they were people. Real people. People who lived in her village, and prepared the food she hunted for, and stitched together the clothes she wore. They were the only people Fang had known for the first nineteen years of her life, and now they were lumps of cursed rock.

"Oh, Etro…" she breathed.

"Yeah. But believe it or not, the idea doesn't bother me as much as it used to." Fang lifted her head up so she could see Lightning.

Lightning gave her a sceptical look.

"It's true. I was livid when I discovered all these Stones on Gran Pulse. I hated that a fal'Cie had taken everyone and cursed them just because of some fool war with Cocoon. That's when I vowed to find all of them and complete their Focuses so they could rest."

"That's why you were so adamant we helped that one in Oerba," Lightning realised.

"Exactly. I was so angry at the thought of someone I knew suffering, that I was almost blind to everything else. I wanted to fix it, to make it right. Of course, having to save the world, and then spend _another_ three years in crystal has a way of giving you perspective. I realised that getting all worked up over it wasn't going to help anyone. It's not like the rest of us haven't had a tough old time of it either."

Lightning nodded her fervent agreement. Between them all, they had experienced ten times the stress and adventure of any group of people they could name.

"So now I try and think of it as just another task that needs to be done. If I'm going out hunting and know there's a Stone nearby I'll try and slay the mark." Fang said.

"Does that work, trying to keep detached? Aside from today, obviously," asked Lightning.

"Mostly. I'll complete its Focus, and then go back to double-check on the Cie'th Stone. Once it becomes inactive, it usually just lies in place, kind of like a self-made monument. So I sit there with it for a while, thinking about the old days, wondering if I can figure out who it used to be. Like, if I knew a particular area was important to someone, I'd wonder if they made it there in their last moments, and if they felt it when their Focus was complete."

"That's actually quite philosophical. It sounds very respectful," said Lightning, a little surprised.

Fang shrugged. "It's the best way to look at it. Usually it gets me a bit choked up, but that's what visiting graveyards and memorials does to you. I don't know what last night was about, but I guess it was my brains way of telling me to speed it up."

"Have you talked to Vanille about it? I'm sure she'd want to help, especially if it was for the people from your village."

"I thought about it, but I didn't want her to know," Fang said. "It was my fault she got cursed and dragged into all that mess, and I didn't want to give her anything else to stress about. Especially now that life is going good."

"But it's clearly been affecting you," Lightning protested. "You know Vanille wouldn't want to see you unhappy."

Fang got to her feet, picking her lance up as she went. "I know, but look. Last night must have caught me at a low ebb or something. I've been managing these Cie'th Stones just fine since we got here. I'm the only one left who can make things right for them, and I want to do it." She looked Lightning square in the eye, as if daring her to disagree.

Lightning stood as well, holding her hands up in surrender. "I'm not trying to talk you out of it. I just want to make sure you're not going to burn out."

"Oh. Sorry, I guess I'm just a bit all over the place."

"A bit?" Lightning asked lightly.

Fang laughed, running her hand through her wild hair. "Yeah yeah. Look, I know I'm being a misery guts today. We can just go back if you like. You wanted to sunbathe or something, right? We could probably get a couple of hours in before the sun starts to dip. It'd be more fun than running around an old abandoned ruin."

Lightning knew that Fang was trying to give her an out, but she didn't want to take it. This was important. "No, it's okay. I want to help you with this."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Fang gave her a relieved smile. "Good. Because I really wanted to get this done."

Lightning tapped the handle of her gunblade. "I know," she said simply, giving a pretty smile of her own.

Fang cursed herself slightly for allowing herself to get all emotional over why they were here, because one look at Lightning's smile and she swore she felt her knees buckle and her stomach flip-flop. She cleared her throat and brushed an errant speck of dirt from her lance.

"Ready then?" asked Lightning.

"Let's do it."

It was only a few dozen steps to the entrance. The door was perpetually ajar, either by design or accident, and Fang gestured for Lightning to stay behind her as she sidled up to it. She grasped her lance firmly in her right hand, holding onto the door with her left, and peered inside. The angle didn't offer a panoramic view of the interior, but from what she could see and hear, nothing was about to pounce on them.

She walked slowly inside, Lightning close behind her. They circled slowly around each other, facing outwards, making sure they weren't about to be attacked.

"Clear this way."

"Me too."

They relaxed slowly out of their battle-stances, but kept their weapons close to hand. There were a few awkward angles, especially on the upper floors, where creatures could leap out from behind doorways and staircases, and neither woman wanted a surprise like that.

"It's quiet down here," Lightning commented, her voice echoing oddly in the cavernous space.

"Don't knock it."

The pair made their way quickly over to the ramp leading to the elevator. They were almost through the entrance when Lightning realised something.

"This thing is still going to work from the last time, isn't it?"

Fang backed up slightly and raised her head to look at the wall. "Seems like the shaft is still aligned. We should we able to get right to the fifth tier."

"Good." Lightning entered the elevator. Fang followed her in, and gave the lever a sharp tug. There was a low whirr of electricity, and the elevator shuddered into life, slowly climbing upwards.

"Who on Pulse even designed this thing to split into sections?" Lightning complained as they ascended. "No wonder it fell into disrepair."

Fang grinned. "A staircase wouldn't go amiss."

"Right?"

The door shuddered open and they stepped through, eyes flicking to all corners to watch for monsters.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone up here either," Lightning said quietly, not wishing to disturb the peace.

Fang frowned. "I guess we scared everyone off. Our last visit was a little blood-fuelled." She wouldn't complain normally, but she hoped the Cie'th mark at least was still around.

"Do you remember where the Stone is?" Lightning asked.

Fang nodded. "Yeah. It's just in this room up here." She pointed with her lance towards an open doorway down the corridor.

"Okay. And the mark?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't get a chance to properly check it out last time, but I do know it's on this floor somewhere."

The two women made their way carefully across the stone floor, treading carefully to avoid making too much noise. They had been lucky to not run into anything on the way, and didn't want to get sucked into a battle just before they reached their target.

"Just in here," Fang whispered, as they reached the door. She was half a pace ahead of Lightning, but hadn't stepped halfway through the frame when she flung herself violently backwards, almost knocking the pinkette off balance.

"What the-" Lightning began, bringing her hand to her stomach where a stray elbow had caught her.

"Shh," said Fang, bringing a hand to cover Lightning's mouth.

Well trained as she was, Lightning fell immediately silent and stopped moving.

Fang peered her head back around the door for a moment before jerking backwards again. She hadn't realised her hand was still pressed against Lightning's lips until a soft exhalation of air hit her palm. She dropped her arm in embarrassment.

"What do we have?" Lightning asked in a professional tone of voice. Fang was glad that Lightning could instantly switch to her soldier's mind-set.

"Three creatures. Looked like a Mushussu, flanked by two Yakshini. Might be a tough one."

"Is that our target?"

"I think so." Fang wasn't sure how, but something inside her said that these were the monsters they were here for.

"What's the plan?"

Fang stole another glance through the door. It was a fairly large room. She could see the active Cie'th Stone glowing directly opposite where she was standing. The three creatures were at the other end of the room, roughly thirty five yards away if her guess was any good.

Between them and her was absolutely nothing. No crumbling pieces of waist-high wall, no cleverly positioned crates she could duck behind. No overturned tables, no giant plant-pots, no nothing. More proof this building was designed by a sadist, as if she needed it.

Lightning was waiting coolly, one eyebrow raised as she waited. Her gunblade was extended into its sword-form, held loosely in her right hand.

Fang tossed her lance from hand to hand as she mulled over their limited options. So limited, there was really only one.

"How do you feel about charging in, guns blazing?" she asked lightly.

Lightning raised her other eyebrow, incredulous. "Seriously?"

Fang shrugged. "We're not exactly drowning in tactical coverage in there. It wouldn't be the craziest thing we've ever done."

"That's true." Lightning chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, and Fang tried very hard to keep her mind on the job. "Alright, fine. It's been a while since we were recklessly cavalier with our lives." She hefted her gunblade up to her chest, bouncing on the balls on her feet.

Fang smirked at her. "Let's go, Sunshine."

They positioned themselves one on either side of the door. Lightning held up three fingers.

Fang shifted her weight.

Lightning dropped a finger.

Fang adjusted her grip on her lance.

Lightning dropped a second finger.

Fang caught her eye and nodded at her almost imperceptibly.

Lightning dropped a final finger.

They burst through the doorway.


	6. Chapter 6

"Let's make this quick!" Lightning snarled out. She was running full tilt into the room, keeping her body low and her gunblade away from herself.

One of the Yakshini was the first to react to her assault, floating in front of its cohorts. It flung its single clawed foot towards Lightning as she approached, but she read its intent and rolled to the right. The Yakshini roared as its swipe failed to connect and it overbalanced. It used its wings to try and twist to the side and catch Lightning's back.

It failed to spot the second threat.

Fang had been following right on Lightning's heels. As soon as Lightning threw herself to the side, she leapt into the air, her lance pulled back behind her shoulder. The Yakshini was already in mid-motion, trying to reach Lightning, so when Fang pounced it couldn't avoid her.

The lance was driven into its chest a split-second before Fang connected with the body. Her added weight knocked the Yakshini to the ground and the extra force pushed the spear all the way through, burying itself a foot deep.

Lightning had managed to roll back onto her feet, sweeping her gunblade up as she did so. She nicked the foot of the Mushussu, which had been advancing on her, and it screeched as the blow landed. This sent it into a rage and it went straight onto the offensive, pecking and scratching every inch of Lightning it could reach. She stumbled backwards, fending off all the strikes she could. She was losing ground rapidly as the Mushussu bore down on her, pressing her against the back wall.

Fang was desperately trying to retrieve her spear from where it was impaled in the Yakshini corpse. It must have caught a bone at an awkward angle because there was very little give in it. She gave it another fruitless tug before the second Yakshini gave her a heavy blow to the back of the head with its wing, and she was sent sprawling to the ground.

Groaning against the cool stone tiles, Fang lifted a hand to her head to check for blood. Satisfied that she didn't have anything more worrying than a small bump, she rolled herself onto her back, only to have a clawed foot crash into the ground where her chest would have been a second ago.

"Holy-" she choked out, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She rolled to the side again, and then scrambled to her feet. The Yakshini gave an unholy scream at having its strike evaded, and lunged at her again.

She raised her arms to protect her face, and caught a vicious blow. Her legs buckled slightly under the force of the attack, and when the Yakshini drew its wing back, Fang just managed to dance back out of range.

"Light! Little help," she called, keeping her eyes on the advancing enemy. She feinted to the left, then darted around the back when it fell for it. "C'mon moron, that's the oldest trick in the book," she jeered, still on her toes, ready to dodge.

"Hang on," Lightning called back. She was still cornered by the Mushussu, blocking every hit she could, but unable to gain any ground.

Fang fumbled in her sari for the small knife she used for skinning. Ducking slightly to avoid another headshot, she slashed upwards and cut a small gash through the Yakshini's wing. It withdraw a few paces, beads of blood dropping to the floor. "Light!" she yelled again. "I'm down to a knife here."

Lightning tore her eyes away from the Mushussu long enough to see Fang facing off against a Yakshini with what could only laughably be referred to as a weapon. Lightning gave a jab towards the Mushussu's face with her gunblade, causing it to flinch. Taking the opportunity, Lightning backed up the couple of steps to the wall before throwing herself towards and shoulder-charging the creature. The strength of her attack caused the Mushussu to fall to the ground, and Lightning jumped over it, running towards Fang.

The huntress could see Lightning's approach out of the corner of her eye, and circled around the side of the Yakshini, so that it was trapped in between them. She waved her knife and taunted again, trying to hold its attention. "Hey hop-along, my grandmother moves quicker than you and she's been dead five hundred years."

The Yakshini screeched again and was about to leap at Fang when Lightning caught up with them, and with a powerful low sweep of her gunblade, sliced through the single foot, almost severing it from the body.

There was an awful keening sound, and the Yakshini toppled forward, narrowly missing Fang. Blood was pouring from the wing and the leg, pooling rapidly across the floor. It was twisting around weakly, still crying out. Lightning and Fang exchanged glances, and after a silent debate, Fang knelt down by its head, knife in hand.

She never liked ending things this way. One predator besting another in the heat of combat was one thing, but this felt more like an execution. The Yakshini twitched again, still mewling. Fang offered it a quiet apology before drawing her knife quickly across its throat. It wasn't easy, but it was the right thing to do.

Lightning offered her a sympathetic nod as Fang rose to her feet again, and she acknowledged it. Now that two of the three enemies had been taken care of, the room was a lot quieter, and there was time to think.

The Mushussu was over by the back wall, almost in the same position as Lightning had left it, eyeing the two women warily. Now that the odds were firmly against it, the Mushussu had lost some of its earlier venom. It was floating back and forth, hissing quietly at them.

Fang and Lightning advanced forward a couple of steps, and it beat the air with its massive brown wings, sending a gust of wind that rustled their hair. They stopped moving and the Mushussu settled back down. They were stuck in an impasse, neither party wanting to make the first move, but unable to back down.

"Can you get your spear back?" Lightning asked out of the corner of her mouth.

"Not without some work. Damn thing has guts like superglue," Fang replied, twisting her knife through her fingers.

"Right," said Lightning. She glanced down at the blade Fang was holding. "Are you going to be alright with that?"

"Best bit of kit I own, this knife," Fang boasted. They were both still facing the feral creature so she couldn't see Lightning roll her eyes.

"I wasn't doubting its credentials; I was doubting its killing ability."

"Well we'll soon find out, won't we?"

"I'll circle right, you circle left, and we attack from both sides?"

"Works for me. Careful though, these guys were a walk in the park compared to Ugly over here."

The Mushussu hissed louder and snapped its beak.

Lightning smirked. "I think it heard you."

"It was supposed to," Fang grinned.

They readied their weapons before nodding to each other. Lightning started to head towards the creature, waving her gunblade and arm in an attempt to make herself look bigger and keep the attention on her. She kept to the right, trying to force it to turn its back on Fang who was approaching from the left. The Mushussu angled itself towards Lightning, neither advancing nor retreating, just waiting for her to make a move.

Fang had worked her way stealthily behind the creature, feeling a little pleased that it hadn't noticed her. She was in position faster than Lightning, and decided to capitalise on the moment by launching a surprise attack. The Mushussu was still focused on the circling pinkette, so Fang bounded forward and plunged her knife into the back of its head.

That was the idea anyway.

She had assumed that the Yakshini and the Mushussu were essentially the same creature, with the Yakshini being slightly smaller and more colourful. This was not the case. Standing in front of it was clearly a different breed altogether.

Instead of her knife burying itself to the hilt in the Mushussu's skull, it sunk about an inch in before bouncing off the solid bone. The creature whirled around, shrieking in rage, and knocked Fang to the ground. Her knife fell out of her grasp and skittered across the floor.

"Fang!" Lightning called in alarm. She rushed forward and thrust her gunblade into the join between the body and the wing. There was a visceral tearing sound as the weapon ripped through tendons and muscles. Lightning followed up with a quick slice across the lower back, and a small line of blood appeared.

Fang found herself disarmed for the second time since this encounter began and regretted her decision to come here. Lightning was doing a decent job keeping the creature occupied whilst Fang recovered, but she couldn't keep that pace up for long. She scrambled to her feet and glanced around for her knife. She couldn't see where it had landed, not that it was going to do much good anyway.

Casting her eyes around for a substitute, her gaze fell on the corpse of the first Yakshini.

"Bingo," she breathed. There was a metallic clash from behind her and she whirled around. The Mushussu, despite its injuries, had Lightning pinned down. The sound came from the gunblade clashing against the clawed foot.

"Oi!" she yelled, waving her arms to draw attention to herself. She positioned herself in front of the body of the Yakshini. The Mushussu faltered for a moment, giving Lightning the chance to spring away. "Over here!"

It wasn't buying her act, not that she really expected it to. It snarled at Fang, angry that it had been distracted from tearing Lightning in half.

The pinkette, for her part, had a better view of the room, now that she wasn't up against the wall. She could see where Fang was standing, and had an idea about her tactics.

She darted quickly over to stand by the huntress. The Mushussu was a little wary now that the two women were together again, but started a slow advance nonetheless.

"Need to speed it up," Fang muttered.

Lightning flicked her gunblade into its rifle form and squeezed a few shots off, close enough to clip the creature but not enough to make it stop.

It raised its one good wing up and puffed its chest out, roaring angrily. Lightning fired another couple of shots. The Mushussu barrelled towards them, gaining speed with every yard. The two women stood their ground, with Lightning continuing to take pot-shots.

When it was almost on them, Fang shouted, "now!"

Lightning dived to the side, performing a sideways roll before straightening up. Fang took one pace backwards and spun around and down, so she was over the Yakshini corpse. She grabbed the still-embedded shaft of her lance and angled it away from herself.

The Mushussu only had time to widen its eyes in recognition before it slammed into the weapon. The tip of the lance pierced through its chest, instantly plunging itself into the heart. The Mushussu let out a quiet cry as it expired.

Fang took a step backwards as the weight of the body forced itself further down onto the spear, painfully slowly. It sunk down another foot before it could no longer support itself, and it gradually toppled over.

She stood there staring at it for a moment, trying to catch her breath. It seemed smaller now that it was dead.

A quiet whirring noise drew her attention. She looked up just in time to see the green glow of the Cie'th Stone fade away. It gently fell to the floor, connecting with the tiles with a heavy thunk.

"We did it," Lightning said.

"Yeah," said Fang distantly. Now that the adrenaline from the fight was starting to fade, all of her previous exhaustion came back full-force. She felt so very tired.

Lightning came and stood by her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

Fang knew she was asking about her state of mind, not her state of body. "I think so. It's all just a bit…" she waved a hand ineffectually, trying to act out what she meant to say.

Thankfully Lightning was quick on the uptake. "I understand," she said, squeezing Fang's shoulder. "Do you want some help clearing up, or do you need a moment?" she asked.

"I'll catch you up," Fang replied, still a little withdrawn, "if that's okay," she added, belatedly remembering her manners.

"Take your time," Lightning said simply. She paused before she turned to go, shifting her body so she was in Fang's field of vision. Fang looked up at her. "You did good work today."

The huntress gave her a watery smile and nodded, not trusting her voice to stay steady. Lightning smiled kindly at her before heading towards the doorway. After a minute there was the sound of whirring cogs, and Fang knew she had taken the elevator down to the ground floor.

She let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding, and allowed her whole body to sag. Another one down, Etro knows how many left to go. Deciding to retrieve her spear when she had recovered her strength a little bit, Fang trudged over to the now dormant Cie'th Stone.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to it. She threw herself onto the ground, leaning her back against it. From this distance, there could only have been a handful of paces between the Stone and the location where the mark appeared. "You were so close, but didn't make it in time, eh? The fal'Cie always loved a good laugh."

Drumming her fingers against the Stone, she allowed her mind to drift back to the people of Oerba. There wasn't a man, woman or child who enjoyed visiting the Tower, so she didn't have a clear idea of who the Cie'th used to be. Seeing that she couldn't narrow her thoughts down to one specific person, Fang allowed herself to reminisce for a moment about her old life.

She missed it, a lot. Life in the orphanage wasn't always easy, but the matrons were kindly enough, and there was plenty to eat. When she was old enough to join the hunting party, it was like she had been accepted into a prestigious club. The other villagers treated her with new respect, and the hunters easily accepted her into their fold, like the little sister they were missing.

Village life was a lot simpler, yes, but she wouldn't trade her new life for anything. She and Vanille were safe and curse-free. There wasn't the threat of a war with Cocoon hanging over their heads. She had a warm bed, and her old job, and her health.

Most of all, she had Lightning. Even it wasn't yet in the capacity she wanted her, and even if she rejected her when the time came, she still had Lightning. Lightning who was willing to traipse across Gran Pulse with her, on her day off, no questions asked. Who threw herself into a violent battle with three fierce monsters just because of some, possibly misguided, notion Fang had about chivalry. Who didn't ask too many questions, and gave Fang all the space she needed.

She smiled to herself. Lightning was just perfect for her. And once they got back and could put this day behind them, Fang was going to try and prove that she was perfect for Lightning as well.

Struggling to her feet, Fang saw that her knife had landed next to the wall, and picked it up. She was about to wipe it down and re-sheathe it when a flash of colour caught her eye. She made her way over to where the two bodies lay impaled on her lance and knelt down.

The flash of colour was from the tail feather of the Mushussu, a shining flicker of russet against the otherwise dull brown of the rest of the body. But when Fang changed her position, the colour changed as well. Where the light was hitting the tail, the feathers changed to a deep green and then a purple-blue when Fang moved it.

"An Entrancing Tail," she whispered. Some Mushussu were rumoured to have them, but the chances of finding one were slim.

Severing it quickly from the main body, Fang held it up to the light. It had a natural curl to it, and was easily the length of her arm. When it spun gently around, the changing colours danced and twisted, irresistibly drawing her eye. She had never seen anything with such an iridescent quality.

She smirked. She knew exactly what she was going to do with it.

Anxious to get back to Lightning and on the way home before the light faded, Fang hurried herself up. She carefully packed the entrancing tail away with her knife, then set about the laborious task of retrieving her spear.

* * *

Lightning stood outside the front door of the Tower, bouncing anxiously on the balls of her feet as she waited for Fang to reappear. She didn't really know why she was so nervous. All the fighting was over, and there was nothing likely to attack on the short journey down the elevator.

But Fang had looked so fragile, standing and looking at the Cie'th Stone. Lightning felt her heart surge in her chest, and she wanted to do something, anything, to restore the huntress to her usual vivacious self. Giving her space for the moment seemed prudent, even if Lightning's feet felt like lead as she walked away. Fang needed a little time just to stop and process.

She checked the time again, pacing in front of a small fire she had lit. This seemed to be taking forever, although her watch said otherwise. Lightning sat down and started rummaging through her satchel, just for something to do. She pulled out a small parcel wrapped in greaseproof paper, and frowned when she didn't recognise it.

She slowly opened it, wary of what was inside, and was pleased to discover several chunks of hard tack. It was a long-life ration they were issued in the Guardian Corps, low in flavour but high in energy. It would certainly sustain them for the trip back to New Bodhum.

There were footsteps from behind her, and Lightning wheeled around to find Fang striding towards her, holding her spear at arms-length.

"Pfft. This thing is gonna smell like guts for days," Fang complained, wrinkling her nose.

Lightning couldn't stop the relief from crossing her face. "Fang. Is everything alright?"

"Good as good can be," replied the huntress airily.

Lightning gave her a sceptical look, but decided not to press the issue. "I found some hard tack in my bag. Want some?" She proffered the parcel.

Fang took a piece, watching as Lightning gnawed on the bit she had. She took a bite of her own and grabbed her jaw when she almost broke her teeth. "Bloody hellfire!" she moaned. "What's in this stuff, rocks?"

Lightning patiently chewed on her own mouthful. "It's hardy army food. Lasts for years."

"Yeah, no kidding. No bugger wants to eat it, that's why," Fang grumbled, taking another bite nevertheless. She threw herself onto the ground next to the fire and spread her arms out. "It's good to be out of that Tower." She felt much lighter than she had earlier in the day, like completing that Cie'th Stone mission had drained the poison that was sapping her strength.

Lightning caught herself admiring the long stretch of Fang's bare legs in the sunlight, before shaking her head clear. She sat herself delicately down on the ground and swallowed the last of her mouthful. "I thought we'd give ourselves a bit of a rest here before we head back."

"Sure thing."

They relaxed in companionable silence for a while. Lightning leant her hands on her elbows and looked out over the cliff-face, idly watching the world go past.

Fang was taking advantage of her reclining position to watch Lightning. The pinkette was sat slightly in front of her, so Fang was confident she could admire all she liked without being caught. The sun had worked its way behind them now, and the light was making Lightning's champagne pink hair shine. She didn't know that pink could come in so many subtle hues.

Loose wisps of hair framed Lightning's face, and Fang almost felt her fingers twitch with the urge to brush them back because they were blocking her view. She contented herself with allowing her eyes to flicker gently down the slender contours of Lightning's body for a moment. There was something very gratifying about lying here like this. It wasn't because of the opportunity to openly admire the object of her affections, although that was certainly nice. It was because this position felt natural, like they had been doing it for years. Fang could imagine the two of them posed like this on the sand, in the garden, in bed. Her heart swelled and her stomach clenched at the thought.

Gently rising off her back and into an upright position, Fang was almost level with Lightning's ear.

"Light?" she whispered.

Lightning shivered almost imperceptibly at the feel of hot breath hitting her ear. She kept her eyes facing forward, but cocked her head to the side to show that she was listening.

"Thank you for today. Truly."

Lightning turned her head to face Fang and blinked wide when she realised just how close their faces were. She didn't make an attempt to move. "You're welcome. I told you before; I want to help you with anything I can. And if that means having to trek across all of Gran Pulse to hunt down every monster there is, then I'll do it." She kept her voice low in deference to their proximity, but her sincerity was still obvious.

Fang was too emotionally raw from the last twenty-four hours to cope with the frank and honest look Lightning was giving her. Instead she ducked her head down and rested her forehead on Lightning's shoulder.

She didn't know how long they had sat in this position for, but Fang was too comfortable to move. After what seemed like forever, and no time at all, Lightning spoke up.

"We should start to head back."

Fang groaned, but made no effort to stand. Lightning allowed her five more seconds before she took action.

Unable to help herself, but not entirely sure why she was doing so, Lightning pressed a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kiss to the crown of Fang's head before gently pushing her away. "Come on. I'll put the fire out, you get your things together."

Fang mechanically reached for her bag and her spear, and pushed herself to her feet. She was sure that she had felt Lightning kiss her, because the spot was still tingling. But judging from the way Lightning was casually stamping embers out, there was every chance that her imagination was just running away with her.

Lightning turned around and quirked at eyebrow at the huntress, who was staring at her with a kind of disbelieving expression. Fang snapped to attention when she realised that Lightning was waiting for her.

"Right. Homeward bound, then," she said, setting off for the path. Lightning followed behind her with an amused grin.


	7. Chapter 7

It was just getting dark as the two women walked out of the final few trees that separated the forest from the town. Fang was stumbling a little from exhaustion, but managed to keep pace with Lightning, who was anxious not to be out in the wilds when the sun set. The lights were just starting to come on, providing the weary travellers with a comforting glow as they trudged down the path.

"You gonna come in for a bit?" Fang asked as they approached the inviting sight of NORA house.

"For a little while," Lightning agreed. "Hopefully Vanille hasn't forced Lebreau to murder her, and that there's something edible for dinner."

Fang was aghast. "Vanille was in the kitchen? What was Vanille doing in the kitchen?"

"I asked her to help Lebreau out," Lightning said. "She was left to do all the food prep by herself, so I volunteered Vanille to help."

Fang raised her palm and placed it on Lightning's forehead, pretending to check her temperature. "You didn't slip in the bath and hit your head did you? I mean, I love Vanille, but she has no business cooking."

Lightning batted her hand away, laughing. "I told her to restrain herself to washing and wiping. Relax; I'm sure everything's fine."

* * *

Vanille was panicking.

It was early evening now, and Lightning and Fang were still missing. She had gone to wake Fang up this morning, only to find her sullen, moody and about to leave. This had immediately set alarm bells ringing.

Vanille would never admit it, but ever since Fang had abandoned her in Euride Gorge she was paranoid that she would do the same again. Intellectually she appreciated that it was the right decision to make at the time. Fang had taken the flak and allowed Vanille to escape unscathed. But it had affected her more than she liked, and every time Fang disappeared for longer than she expected, Vanille worried.

"They're coming back!" Serah called from her seat by the window. She had been keeping Vanille company for the last couple of hours, ever since Lebreau had shooed her out of the kitchen. Vanille had always been bouncy, but this kind of nervous energy was quite exhausting. Lebreau had been waving a butcher's knife quite violently when Serah walked in. So she grabbed the redhead by the wrist and dragged her into a chair, trying to get her to relax.

Lightning was a wonderful sister in nearly every respect, and Serah practically worshipped the ground she walked on. But there was no denying that she had a certain reticence of character, a reservation that was hard to break through. To discover that Lightning had gone out for the day, leaving no note or indication where she was going, didn't strike Serah as odd at all.

She promised to watch for any sign of their return though, to keep Vanille calm.

Vanille came bounding over when Serah called out. "Where? Are they alright? Where have they been?" She peered frantically out of the window, trying to spot the women.

Serah ignored the fact that she couldn't answer two-thirds of those questions. "They're fine, Vanille. I think they're coming in."

Lightning and Fang were indeed walking through the front door, still laughing as they did. Lightning was half a pace ahead, and as Vanille hurtled passed her, she flattened herself against the wall to avoid being run down.

"Fang, you're back! Thank goodness, I was so worried about you, where have you been?"

Fang staggered backwards and almost tripped down the steps when Vanille's weight crashed into her. Deceptively strong arms wrapped themselves around her neck and squeezed. Fang tried not to choke as she responded. "Vanille…good to see you too…but can't breathe…"

Vanille loosened her death grip when she realised she was strangling Fang, and relocated her arms to around her waist instead. Fang hugged her back, patting her gently on the head.

"I wish you wouldn't disappear without telling me, Fang. I thought something might have happened to you," Vanille mumbled into Fang's chest.

Fang felt a twinge of guilt. "I'm sorry, Vanille," she said gently. "I didn't mean to upset you. I guess I was acting a bit selfishly this morning, huh?" She tightened her grip around Vanille to try and convey her apology.

"It's okay. Just tell me next time, yeah?" Vanille pulled back to look at Fang's face, but remained firmly attached to her, as it she would disappear if she let go.

Meanwhile, three feet away, Serah and Lightning were having a similarly touching sibling reunion.

"Did you and Fang have a nice day?" Serah asked politely, her hands folded behind her back, looking at her sister with interest.

Lightning fiddled with the thread of one of her gloves. "It was fine. Fang wanted to take care of something over in Taejin's Tower."

Serah nodded, satisfied with that. "Have you eaten? I think Lebreau was making stew." She gestured towards the door, just as Lebreau was popping her head around it.

"Did I hear my name being-" Lebreau stopped when she saw who was in the room. "Oh, Lightning, you're back. Nice of you to join us," she said, trying to sound snarky. The effect was ruined by a small grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Hey Lebreau. Look, I'm sorry about…" Lightning waved a hand at Vanille, who pouted and tried to sidle around the back of Fang. Fang just chuckled.

"Yeah well. You can make it up to me by helping me dish up. You're all staying for dinner, right?" Lebreau asked rhetorically, as she had already turned back towards the kitchen.

"Right." Lightning unbuckled her gunblade sheath and gave it to Serah, before joining Lebreau in the kitchen. Serah then disappeared into the back room with Lightning's kit.

Fang nudged Vanille, who was still clinging to her like a limpet. "How come I don't get waited on hand and foot like Lightning?"

"Maybe Serah loves Lightning more than I love you," Vanille responded cheekily.

Fang pretended to clip her around the back of her head. Vanille just snuggled in closer.

"They were always very close for sisters," she mused, more to herself than Fang.

"Talking of being close, and not that I'm complaining mind, but are you gonna let me through the door?"

Vanille reluctantly peeled herself away. "Sorry. I just missed you today."

Fang smiled fondly. "Yeah, me too. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Okay!" Vanille chirped. "And to show there's no hard feelings, I'll even help you carry your things to your room." She grabbed Fang's spear and then wrinkled her nose. "Ew, Fang. This thing smells, what have you been doing with it?"

"You don't want to know," Fang smirked as she headed for the bedrooms.

* * *

Lightning walked into the kitchen, only to find herself face to face with a stern-looking Lebreau, arms folded and foot tapping. She paused warily, aware that the fiery barmaid had a strong temper and a host of sharp implements at her disposal, and she had nothing.

She glanced around the kitchen and paused when she saw a scorch mark on the wall that definitely wasn't there when she was here this morning, and the remnants of some broken china sticking out of the bin.

"Oh," she said, rather weakly.

"Oh just about sums it up," Lebreau said. "Luckily your sister took Vanille off my hands before any damage was done."

Lightning looked around the room again. "You wouldn't call this damage?" she asked.

"I didn't mean damage to the room."

The two women stared at each other, before Lebreau relaxed her stance and grinned. "Chill, Light. You know how much of a mess this place looks when the boys come through here? Today was just another day."

Lightning shifted out of her own battle posture, unaware that she had moved into it. "So you're not going to turn me into soup-of-the-day then."

Lebreau wrinkled her nose. "Gross. No." She picked up a stack of bowls and handed them to Lightning before stirring a simmering pot. "But I'll forgive you for not hanging out with me if you tell me all about your day with Fang. And I mean _all_." She winked. "Spare no details." She had heard the two women walk into the building, and judging from their body language, Fang had definitely cheered up. Or, to put it in a different way, somebody had cheered her up, and done a bloody good job of it.

Carefully handing over the top bowl to the barmaid for her to fill with stew, Lightning thought about her answer. Today had been about Fang and her commitment to helping the people who used to live on Gran Pulse. It was physically and emotionally tiring for her. Lightning was just along for the ride.

"I'm not sure," she began, not wanting to embarrass the huntress. "It was kind of personal."

Lebreau almost dropped her ladle back into the stew-pot. She wasn't really expecting Lightning to open up. "Well, we're all friends here," she said, trying to act casually. "You can tell me."

Lightning handed over another bowl. "Well, I just followed Fang's lead. She knew what she wanted, and how she wanted it to be done. She was the one in charge."

Lebreau stared at her, mouth open. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Actually it was more than that; she couldn't believe that these words were coming out of Lightning's mouth. Restrained and taciturn Lightning Farron was willingly sharing the tales of her exploits? She actually had exploits to tell tales about? She had a horrible feeling that it was going to be the end of the world all over again.

"So, uh, she was dominating then?" Lebreau asked, still reeling a little from the shock.

"I don't know if dominating would be the word I would use. Today was all about her, so I tried to make her as comfortable as possible," Lightning said, oblivious to Lebreau's turmoil.

"Comfortable…" Lebreau murmured, having a glorious mental image of Lightning and Fang entangled in what she imagined as a passionate embrace. She would never have envisaged Fang as the pillow princess to Lightning's gentle top, but there it was, straight from the horse's mouth.

"You're dripping," Lightning commented, as she collected some spoons together.

"I know…" Lebreau sighed, still lost in thought. "Wait, what-" She jerked backwards as the stew from her ladle fell onto the counter and down her apron instead of into the bowl she was filling. "Oh bloody hell."

Lightning handed her a dishcloth, and Lebreau wiped up the excess liquid. Anxious to keep the conversation on track before Lightning clammed up, Lebreau dived back in. "So where did you and Fang go for this 'personal' day?" She couldn't help but waggle her eyebrows.

"Taejin's Tower, on the fifth tier."

Lebreau wrinkled her nose. "That creepy place over by Oerba?" She didn't mind a touch of exhibitionism, but that place was just disturbing.

"Yes," Lightning said. "It was just as well the mark was in the same location, or else the trip would have taken twice as long."

"The mark?" Lebreau was confused. A third party of some kind? These two had been dancing around each other for months, and they went straight into some kind of polyamorous deal without so much as a by-your-leave?

"A Mushussu," Lightning confirmed. She turned her back on Lebreau so she could balance the now-full bowls on the counter. When she turned back Lebreau was gaping at her, ladle hanging forgotten at her side.

Lebreau was almost certain time was screwed up again, because there was no way this reality was the right one. Someone was seriously having her on.

"You and Fang…and a…" she couldn't even finish that sentence.

"Mushussu. We killed one, yes."

The barmaid sagged in relief. "Oh thank Etro for that," she breathed. Her friends weren't sexual deviants, and she didn't have to scrub her mind clean. Another thought struck her. "Wait, so were two you, _y'know_ -" she made a complicated motion with her hands that Lightning didn't understand, "-when it attacked you?"

Lightning gave her a blank look. "Were we what?" she asked.

"You know," Lebreau said, glancing around the room as if to make sure no one was listening in. "In the middle of…" She made that hand motion again.

"…the tower?" Lightning guessed.

"No! In the middle of…" Lebreau lowered her voice and mouthed, "…sex."

There was a loud shattering sound as Lightning dropped the bowls she was holding. "Are you out of your mind?" she hissed. "What on Pulse possessed you to ask a question like that?"

"Hey, you brought it up!"

"What? No I didn't!"

"Oh please, Lightning," Lebreau huffed. "All that talk about doing what Fang wanted, and making her comfortable. It's just us girls here, you can say it."

"Say what?"

"That you two finally got your act together and gave each other a seeing-to!"

"What?"

"What?"

Lightning and Lebreau remained locked in a still tableau, two trains of thought crashing into each other.

Serah walked in. "Hey guys. I heard a crash, is everything alright in here?" She paused when she saw the broken crockery and the intense face-off the two women were having. "Uh, what's going on?"

Lebreau was the first to look away, shame-faced when she realised that she had grasped the wrong end of the stick. "Nothing, Serah. Why don't you help Lightning carry the food out, and I'll clear this up." She bent down and started to collect the ceramic shards.

Serah glanced uncertainly at her sister for guidance. Lightning was still looking at Lebreau, but with concern flashing across her features instead of confusion. The barmaid was steadfastly keeping her attention on the floor, not wanting to embarrass herself more than she already had.

"Light?" Serah prompted.

"Yes, I'm coming." Lightning took one last look at Lebreau before grabbing two bowls and heading back into the dining room.

"Do you need some help," Serah asked gently.

Lebreau smiled wanly. "Go. I'll be there in a minute."

Serah shrugged and took the last full bowl and the spoons out of the kitchen.

Lebreau rocked back on her heels and sighed. She should have known that it was too good to be true. It had been months now since she first realised that the huntress and the solider were going to end up together. They both had strong wills and personalities, but that made them complementary, not clashing. They were two halves of the same whole, or something sappy like that. Fang and Lightning had been in a relational impasse for weeks and there was no way they would confess their feelings and jump straight into bed on the same day. No matter how much Lebreau wished they would.

She got to her feet and fixed together two more portions of stew before joining the others next door. Fang, Vanille and Serah were tucking into their meals, making noises of appreciation. For a moment Lebreau allowed herself to feel proud that people enjoyed eating the food she made, before slinking into her seat.

Lightning was politely waiting for Lebreau, and nodded her thanks when she was given her food.

Vanille and Serah made most of the conversation during dinner, asking about their sisters' trip and what they did. Fang was cagey with a lot of the detail, especially regarding the specifics of the Cie'th Stone. She made it sound like they just happened upon a Mushussu and a pair of Yakshini, and Lightning didn't contradict her.

Lebreau listened to the exchange in near silence. She felt like a total fool for leaping to conclusions. From the descriptions (and quite visceral descriptions at that; it was a good job no one around the table was squeamish), there was nothing remotely romantic or passionate about their day. Just two strong, fearsome warriors kicking arse and taking names. Or taking heads. She never was quite sure about where all those hunting trophies came from.

She didn't notice Lightning watching her carefully out of the corner of her eye.

The pinkette had had a long day, and was tired. But she was certain she could still make sense out of a conversation. So when Lebreau had cornered her in the kitchen, asking about her trip, she had answered. But apparently what she had said, and what was heard, were two different things.

Lebreau had thought that she and Fang had had sex.

More than that; Lebreau had thought that she and Fang had _finally_ had sex. Like it was a foregone conclusion they would.

Lightning could feel a warm sensation start to pool in her stomach at the idea. She tried to attribute it to the hot food, but couldn't fool herself.

She hadn't really thought about the two of them together in that way. Maybe one or twice, in idle fantasy, but that was more a case of letting her brain meander its own way through her thoughts, rather than actively thinking about.

Was that distinction important? Did it matter that her brain would throw Fang into her fantasies?

Her romantic daydreams were few and far between. Life kept her busy enough that she didn't have to fill her time by casually daydreaming. The majority of them featured nameless, faceless bodies, just there to provide illusory stimulation, although stimulation might be a strong way of phrasing it. There was never any great surge of emotion or feelings, just a mild curiosity and the nagging sensation that something was missing.

What she was feeling now was more intense than that. But surely that was to be expected. After all, she knew Fang well. They were close friends, they had shared life-changing experiences and they relied on each other. Fang wasn't just a featureless nobody; she was the one person Lightning had most opened up to and the best friend she had.

And surely that was the reason her pulse-rate had picked up.

Serah nudged her with her foot underneath the table. "You're being quiet, Light. Is everything okay?"

Lightning jolted, clattering her bowl against the wooden table. "What? Oh, yes, I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess."

"Do you want me to walk you home?"

A negative response was on the tip of her tongue when she felt a wave of exhaustion pass over her. The day's exertions were starting to catch up with her, and now all she could think about was lying in front of the fireplace, relaxing with a book.

She glanced across the table to find four faces waiting for a response. Vanille looked at her with concern, as did Lebreau, although her expression was still mixed with a little bit of guilt. She panned over to Fang, but couldn't look her in the eye. The mental image of the two of them was too distracting for her. Fang frowned at being ignored, but didn't say anything.

Serah was still waiting for a reply.

"Actually I think I will go home. It's been a long day," Lightning said.

Serah nodded. "I'll go and get your things." She left the table.

Lightning got to her feet and started to gather her used utensils together. Lebreau stopped her with a touch of a hand.

"Leave those, I'll get them," she said quietly.

Lightning smiled her thanks and shuffled over to the front door, where Serah was now waiting for her, with her gunblade slung over her shoulder.

"Wait," Fang called from the table. She scrambled to her feet and came to stand in front of Lightning, who had found a fascinating piece of floorboard to stare at.

"Thanks for coming with me today," she said, rather lamely. "I know it was a drag, but I really appreciate it." She glanced sideways at Serah, who was pretending not to listen. "And I'll make it up to you."

"You don't owe me anything," Lightning said to Fang's shoulder. "I was glad to help." She flashed a smile at Fang's collarbone, before waving at Vanille and Lebreau, and walking out the door.

Fang slumped almost indiscernibly, only noticed by Serah who was the closest to her. Her sister seemed to have been in high spirits when she returned earlier, laughing and smiling with Fang. Now she was twitchy and evasive, and definitely avoiding eye contact with the huntress, who looked upset.

"I'll take her home," Serah said reassuringly. "She's probably just tired after this week."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Fang replied, not wholly convinced. "See you in a bit." She made her way back to the table, prodding at her half-eaten meal.

Serah noticed an uncomfortable looking Lebreau sitting in her chair, and made a mental note of that uncharacteristic behaviour, before turning around and joining her sister outside.

They walked back to Lightning's house in silence. Lightning was still musing over Lebreau's comment in the kitchen, trying to fathom out her feelings, and Serah was trailing half a pace behind, keeping a watchful eye on her sister.

Lightning fumbled in her satchel for the key as they walked up the front step, and opened the door, allowing Serah to enter first. Serah bounced into the house and, not being used to her sister having ornaments, her eye was immediately drawn to the Seapetal Scales.

"Wow, Light, those look fantastic. Are they new?" Serah asked, going over to the fireplace to get a closer look.

"Oh. Yes, they are." Lightning had to double-check what her sister was referring to, not yet used to her new decorations. "Fang brought them over for me."

Serah ran a gentle finger along one of the Scales, admiring the way the delicate silver colour shimmered in the light. "These are really pretty," she murmured. "Who knew Fang had it in her?" Her advice about combining hunting prowess with pretty things had gone down well, but it was a surprise to see just how much the huntress had out-done herself.

"What was that?" Lightning asked, unable to hear her sister's quiet whisper.

"Fang did really well to get these together," Serah explained. "She must have gone to a lot of effort." She looked over at her sister, hoping her attempt to fish for details wasn't as obvious as she thought it was.

Luckily Lightning wasn't paying her much attention. She had picked up the small Scale on the counter, the one doubling as a coaster, and was turning it through her fingers. "She explained a little bit about it. But I think it was more effort than she let on." Lightning stared at the polished surface, as if hoping it would reveal the answers she wanted.

Serah watched her for a moment, trying to decipher the expression on her face. "You're worth the effort you know, Claire," she said softly.

Lightning started, not expecting a reply to the question she hadn't even posed. "Do you think so?" she asked, an unwanted trace of vulnerability creeping into her voice.

"I really do." Serah came over to her, slowly as if to avoid startling her, and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. She broke the hug off after a few seconds but remained tucked into Lightning's side, both of them admiring the Seapetal Scale.

Lightning rocked it back and forth, watching the play of light. She was trying to distract herself from all the thoughts that were running through her mind, but the living room was now full of things that reminded her of Fang, and her brain kept short-circuiting. Her earlier conversation with Lebreau had really confused her.

"Hey Serah?" she said.

"Hmm?"

"Lebreau said something strange to me earlier," Lightning said, keeping her focus on the silver disc in her hand.

"Really? What was it?" Serah knew that Lebreau had been looking a little bit shifty when they left the bar. Her sister and Fang had barely been back five minutes and the barmaid had managed to put her foot in it.

Lightning was rocking on her heels ever so slightly, trying to find the words she wanted to say. She had no idea how to ask why Lebreau thought her and Fang's relationship was romantic. How did one ask their little sister whether the vibes between them and their best friend reeked of unresolved sexual tension? In the end she decided not to say anything.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," she said unconvincingly.

Serah rubbed a hand across her sister's stomach. "Are you sure? You know you can always talk to me about anything." It was unlikely Lightning would open up on the first ask, but it was always worth a shot. Mentally she was working out what she was going to say to Lebreau when she got back to NORA house.

"Yeah. It was silly anyway."

"Well, alright then." Serah straightened up and brushed her hands down her skirt. "I guess I'd better get back home, it's starting to get late."

"Will you be okay by yourself?" Lightning asked as she opened the front door.

Serah rolled her eyes at her sister's unnecessary fretting. "Me, a moogle and a boy from the end of the world travelled across all of time and space to save you. I can make it to the middle of town."

The back of Lightning's mind registered just how much her sister looked like her in that moment. "You know I didn't mean it like that, Serah," she sighed. "I'm just tired. I worry about you."

Serah's face softened. "I know you do." She pressed a kiss to Lightning's cheek. "I worry about you too." She walked out of the door and hesitated on the porch. "I love you, Sis."

Lightning smiled. "Me too."

She watched the retreating figure of her sister walk down the path until she was swallowed by the trees, then closed the door and leaned heavily against it. Today had been full of surprises from the moment she woke up, and she could no longer process anything. Her head was full of Fang and Cie'th Stones and delicate Seapetal Scales, and she didn't know how to cope with any of it.

Wearily, Lightning dragged herself to her bedroom. She would sleep on it, and let tomorrow hold the answers she needed.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - Mmm, I'm not too sure about the second half of this chapter. I think it works, but at the same time I'm a little on the fence. It was difficult to get into Lightning's head. I wonder if it works for you guys...**

* * *

Serah burst dramatically in through the front door of NORA house, brandishing her finger at Lebreau's spot on the table, ready to burst into righteous indignation.

The effect was marred slightly by the fact that no one was in the room.

Deflated, but not defeated, Serah hastened into the kitchen, where she found the barmaid by the sink, staring thoughtfully at the wall as she slowly cleaned a plate.

"You!" Serah cried out, flourishing her accusatory finger again.

Lebreau barely looked up. "Oh hey, you're back. Wanna dry whilst I wash?" She nodded towards a dishtowel on the counter.

Serah faltered, her determined stance quivering as she struggled to hold a pose that was being ignored. "I need to talk to you," she said confidently.

"Yeah, what's up?" Lebreau asked, scrubbing at a particularly stubborn stain, still not facing the younger Farron.

"Lebreau!" Serah said, almost but not quite, managing to keep a whining tone out of her voice. "Can you stop washing up for a minute? I'm trying to intimidate you!"

This got Lebreau's attention. "Are you?" she said interestedly. "Whatever for?" She turned around and tried not to show her amusement at Serah's attempt at threat. The girl was certainly strong enough to hold her own in a fight, there was no denying that. But she simply didn't have her sister's effortless poise and grace. It was like being cornered by a kitten.

Lebreau picked up a butcher's knife that was lying on the drainage board and buffed it casually with a cloth, cackling internally at the expression on Serah's face.

Serah swallowed. She knew that Lebreau was only toying with her, but it was annoying to have the tables turn on her, and so quickly. She resisted the urge to stamp her foot. "Because you said something to Lightning that she said was strange, and now she's acting funny!"

Lebreau dropped her blasé attitude and put the knife back down. "Oh right, that," she said guiltily. "Well it wasn't anything really, just a case of me getting my wires crossed."

"She seemed in a weird mood when I took her home."

"This is Lightning we're talking about."

"Come on Lebreau!" Serah whined. "She was fine when she came back, then she suddenly went quiet and broody."

Lebreau opened her mouth to interrupt but Serah talked right over her.

"-and don't tell me that's what she's always like because you know that isn't true, and I know you said something to upset her!" Serah's voice had risen as she spoke, echoing loudly in the small kitchen.

Lebreau held her hands up in an effort to placate the younger girl. "Look kitten, I didn't upset her, I just got the wrong end of the stick," she said soothingly.

Serah could feel her face flushing red with embarrassment, and she toed the floor. It usually took a lot to get her temper rising, but she had always been a little crazy when it came to her sister. "Sorry," she muttered to the barmaid.

Lebreau smiled sweetly at her to show there were no hard feelings. She came over and wrapped an arm around Serah's shoulder, swaying them together slightly. "I know you are," she said. "Look, Lightning is important to me too. And no offence, but she's much scarier than you are, so I wouldn't do anything to set her off."

Serah's mouth twitched upwards at that accurate description.

Lebreau continued. "I just saw her and Fang being all jokey and touchy-feely and kind of…assumed that something had happened when it hadn't."

"You thought Fang had finally told Lightning how she feels?" Serah asked. Etro, part of her hoped that was true, but it wouldn't explain why Lightning had been acting peculiarly.

"Well, that's not quite what I said," Lebreau replied, squirming.

"What did you say then," Serah asked curiously.

"Umm…" Lebreau hedged; half-hoping a hole would appear in the kitchen and swallow her up. "I kind of asked if…well, from what she was saying I thought that…I mean, I assumed that…"

"Lebreau," Serah said warningly.

"I asked her if she and Fang had had sex!" Lebreau burst out.

Serah's jaw dropped. That was certainly one option she hadn't been thinking of. It was blunt, even for Lebreau. "Why on Pulse would you have asked Lightning that? You know how she is about relationships!"

"I don't know!" Lebreau cried wretchedly. "The two of them were so different to this morning that my imagination just ran away with me!"

"But to just come out and say it like that!"

"She was making all these innuendo and suggestive comments! I was just working with what she was giving me!"

Serah gave Lebreau a sceptical look. "Light was making suggestive comments?" Her tone indicated that she very much doubted the veracity of that. "My sister, Light? Practically famous for her stoicism?"

Lebreau opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. When it was phrased like that, it did seem like an unlikely event. Hindsight was a wonderful thing.

Serah sighed. "Well she didn't seem like she was freaking out over the idea, which is good. I guess you just threw her for a loop."

"Sorry Serah," Lebreau said meekly. "I figured after all these months one of them would finally just throw the other against the nearest flat surface and go for it, y'know?"

Serah scrunched her face up at the image that produced. "I'm not sure either of them are the cave-woman type." She hoped not anyway. She had to share a house with Fang and didn't want to find either of them _in flagrante delicto._ "Fang was working on an idea to try and win Lightning over. Hopefully it can still work."

"Do you need me to do anything?" Lebreau asked, wanting to make amends for her earlier indiscretion.

"Not at the moment, I don't think," Serah replied, trying to decide how best to approach the situation. "I guess I need to check on Fang. She looked a bit anxious when I took Light home; I'd better tell her that she's okay."

"And Lightning?"

"Leave her until tomorrow. She looked like she had a lot on her mind, and I think she needs some time to figure it all out."

Lebreau nodded, hoping that she hadn't ruined any chance of getting her friends together. "Sure. Let me know if you need help with anything, yeah?"

"Will do," Serah smiled. She couldn't blame Lebreau for saying what she said. Yes, she could have said it with a little more tact or grace, but her heart was in the right place, and that was in the important thing. Everything wanted Fang and Lightning to get together; it was just a case of waiting for them to actually do it.

She waved goodbye to Lebreau and made her way towards the back bedrooms. Rapping gently on Fang's door with her knuckles, she wasn't surprised to hear Vanille's voice beckon her inside. She pushed the door open and found Fang lying on her bed with an arm thrown over her eyes, and Vanille sitting sedately by her feet. She had one hand placed comfortingly on the brunette's leg, and the other was going through her bag.

"Hey Serah," Vanille greeted her brightly. Fang sat bolt upright when she heard the pinkette's name, causing the redhead to almost fall off the bed, squeaking in shock.

"Hey guys," Serah replied. Vanille was shooting daggers at Fang, but she was being ignored in favour of Serah.

"Did Lightning get home alright?" Fang asked without preamble.

"Yes, she's fine. Just a bit tired I think," Serah replied, not wanting to worry the huntress.

"Did she…I mean, did she say anything?" Fang probed. "Because she seemed fine today, then her mood just dipped when we got back. Was it too much?" Etro damn it, she knew it was going to be too much. All of her angst and regret over the past, dragging her love interest off to some decrepit, monster-ridden hell-hole, instead of being charming and convincing Light to fall in love with her.

"Oh, no, no, everything's alright." Serah was quick to reassure. "She didn't seem upset or anything, just a bit worn out. You know what Light is like for working too hard." She thought it would be best to leave Lebreau's faux pas out of her explanation.

"Right," said Fang slowly, as if working out whether to believe it or not. "Right, okay." Overall she seemed satisfied with the answer.

Vanille piped up. "Ooh Fang, what's this?" she asked, pulling the Entrancing Tail out of the bag.

"Wow, that's incredible," Serah said, eyes transfixed by the iridescent colours. "Where did you get it from?"

Fang smiled happily, pleased that the younger girls found the Tail as fascinating as she did. "It's an Entrancing Tail. I found it on the Mushussu we killed, and figured it was too good to just leave."

Serah delicately reached out for it, running the tips of her fingers along the downy feathers. "It's so soft," she said quietly, almost awestruck by the beauty of it.

Vanille held it up, and the three women watched as the naturally red tail-feather changed colour as the light struck it. "It's really pretty, Fang," the redhead said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I guess it's a rare pigmentation or something," Fang replied. "I've heard stories about hunters who have seen Mushussu like it, but I've never seen one up close. I guess I got lucky."

"Really lucky," said Serah, who still had her eyes transfixed on the kaleidoscopic Tail. "What are you going to do with it? Something rare like this needs something special doing with it."

Fang cleared her throat, and shifted her gaze between Serah and Vanille. "Well, I was going to give it to Light. For her next gift, like."

"Oh Fang, that is so sweet!" Vanille squealed. The bedsprings screeched loudly as she threw herself at the brunette, and Fang patted her awkwardly on the back whilst struggling to maintain her balance. The Entrancing Tail had been dropped in Vanille's haste, and Serah picked it up off the floor, examining it thoughtfully. Fang watched her, waiting to see if she approved of her latest attempt to woo Lightning.

"What do you think, Serah? Will she like it?" She asked.

Serah grinned widely. "I think she's going to love it." She stroked the top of the tail. "It's such a nice idea Fang. It's going to look fantastic in her house."

Fang breathed a sigh of relief at Serah's approval of the gift. She stood up and took the Entrancing Tail back, lifting it up high so the full effect could be seen. "I was thinking about turning it into a wind charm. See how it has this natural curl in it?" She ran her hand down it, indicating the slight twist in the feathers, where it created a shallow helix shape. "If I attached a small hook at the top, and maybe ran a small length of reinforcing wire down the spine, it should survive outside. I was thinking it could go on the porch. I know Light likes to sit outside in the evening, and there should be enough light from the setting sun to hit it." She twisted her wrist so the Tail spun gently, different colours dancing across the surface.

Serah was almost struck speechless at Fang's explanation. It was possible the most romantic thing she had ever heard, and she was so excited that it was for her sister. Lightning deserved to be swept off her feet more than anyone she knew.

She stepped closer to the huntress, who was watching her with wary eyes. Fang knew she had Serah's blessing to love Lightning, but she still harboured a small paranoid fear that her efforts wouldn't be enough.

Serah slowly placed her hands onto Fang's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. Both of their expressions were filled with deep emotion. "Fang," she began, her voice thick with feeling, "I think this will be the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for my sister. And I am so happy that it's you doing it."

Fang blinked back tears as she stared into Serah's earnest eyes, nodding her head because she didn't trust herself to speak.

"When are you going to give it to her, Fang?" Vanille asked from her position on the bed.

Fang had almost forgotten she was there, and jumped a little. "I guess a couple of days? It doesn't need treating or anything, but the wire-work might be a bit fiddly."

"I can help with that," Vanille offered. "I've been creating jewellery and things, so I could probably make something with a bit of flair."

"That'd be great," Fang smiled. "You know I'm a bit ham-fisted when it comes to delicate work."

"We can get started tomorrow then," Vanille clapped her hands in glee. "I can't wait to see what Lightning thinks of it."

* * *

The morning sun streaming in through her window hit Lightning's closed eyelids, and she groaned. She turned away from it and tried to bury her head into her pillow. After a less-than-refreshing seven or eight minutes of sleep last night, she was more exhausted than before. Her thoughts had been running at a mile a minute, and all of them involved a tall, dark huntress.

Some of her thoughts were memories. There was the first time they met, where Fang had made that ridiculously daredevil motorbike entrance. It was unnecessarily dramatic, but Lightning had found herself reluctantly intrigued by the graceful stranger.

There was the first time they had fought together, cutting through a PSICOM patrol with barely a broken step. Lightning had been naïve to think that a simple spear wouldn't compare to the power of a gun or a rifle. She had been wrong. Fang had moved in a blur, zigzagging across the plaza and had speared the first soldier before he had time to draw his weapon. After that she had spun and jumped and weaved and taken three more soldiers out before Lightning managed to unsheathe her gunblade and shoot the last one.

There was the time Lightning had slapped her, the time Fang leapt onto a Garuda and subdued it so they could escape from the _Palemecia_ , the time she rode side-saddle on a Chocobo across Gran Pulse, when she transformed into Ragnorok, when she was turned into crystal, when she was freed from crystal…

Those thoughts were familiar and they had a reassuring quality about them. She could remember where they were, what she felt, how she reacted. There was nothing new or different about the memories, and she appreciated them for it.

The other half of her thoughts were fantasies. Some were old scenarios that her brain had reimagined. Like the time she and Fang had been constructing the bed in her room. In reality they had spent several hours cursing the wooden slats for not fitting together, then struggled with the mattress, trying to squeeze it though the door without damaging anything.

In her fantasy, they got the bed constructed, but where reality had them clap each other on the back before retiring, her brain created a new scenario.

She had been standing next to the foot of the bed, and Fang had been staring intently at her, eyes dark with desire. Slowly she had advanced, forcing Lightning back until her calves hit the mattress. Her gaze had dragged down to Lightning's lips, whose breathing had hitched in response. Unhurriedly she moved closer and closer, until they were sharing the same breath. Fang had paused millimetres away, and Lightning had gently closed the gap until they met, and they were kissing. Fang had wrapped her arms around her and softly pushed them backwards until they fell, tangled together on the bed.

The fantasy had tapered off then. Even in the safety of her own head, Lightning couldn't muster up the courage to create an explicit scene. She wasn't convinced she would know what to do after the kissing. The clothes came off at some point, but she wasn't sure how one progressed to that point.

The rest of her fantasies followed in a similar vein. The two of them would be involved in an innocuous task, and the next thing she knew, Fang would be pinning her against the nearest surface with her mouth.

What she felt when she imagined these scenes was so much more intense than the emotions associated with her memories. The pit of her stomach twisted with tendrils of heat, her mouth became dry and her breathing became laboured. She had never experienced anything like it before, and it confused the life out of her that Fang was the reason for it.

After a restless night, all Lightning had discovered was that she was in two minds. Her subconscious mind clearly had very strong views about Fang, but her conscious mind was struggling to put a label on it. Lightning had a very analytical intellect, which was part of what made her an excellent officer, but she couldn't find a relatable experience that could help her explain what she was feeling.

She felt like she was floundering at the edge of an abyss, and she didn't know if it was safer to stagger back or fall forwards.

Reluctantly she threw the covers off and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Much as she wanted to curl into a ball and hide herself away, she knew that she needed to stay occupied.

Dragging her feet into the kitchen, Lightning put the kettle on and gazed out of the window while she waited for it to boil. There was a stiff breeze blowing through the trees, and the sky was a dreary shade of grey. A perfect day for staying indoors, hiding from the big questions.

She fixed herself a cup of coffee and flopped down into her chair, resisting the urge to groan when she felt the pelt against her skin and saw the Seapetal Scales in her eye-line. Even when she was trying to avoid Fang, there were reminders of the huntress everywhere. Pretty reminders, but reminders nonetheless.

Lightning decided to light a fire, seeing as the weather was too miserable to bother venturing outside. She could curl up with her book, and a hot drink, reading the day away. The kindling had already been placed in the hearth and, pleased with her foresight, all Lightning had to do was throw a match into it and watch it ignite.

It was crackling away after a few minutes, and Lightning grabbed _The Pulsian Guide to Hunting_ before she sat back down again. She rolled her eyes at the irony of trying to distract herself from Fang by using a gift from Fang, but she knew reading was the surest way to divert her mind.

Noting that she was about two-thirds of the way through, Lightning mused that wouldn't take long until she had to get up and find something else to read. For the meantime she turned to her bookmarked page and continued. She was still on the chapter concerning Taejin's Tower and having had her fill of the place yesterday, Lightning only skimmed through the rest until the next section.

An hour or so passed as Lightning devoured the information that was given to her. She had only passed by a lot of locations mentioned, and she was compiling a mental list of the areas she would like to visit when she got the chance. The landscape of Gran Pulse was so incredibly varied, with plains and forests and bogs, that it was impressive so much nature could fit into a relatively small space. Lightning had lived on Cocoon, barely venturing out of Bodhum, her whole life and nothing compared to the grand majesty of this wild land.

Trees that grew to be several stories tall, mountain ranges that stretched across the horizon, gorges that seemed to cleave down into the centre of the planet. Lightning couldn't quite wrap her head around the concept of everything being so big. She hoped she never ended up taken the beauty of her new home for granted.

She turned what she thought was the last page, and felt the surge of emptiness she often got when finishing a good book. There was an epilogue, only a few pages long, after the main body of text. Lightning didn't usually bother reading such things, as they were typically a small speech by the author, thanking various parties for their contribution and help. But, it was only short, and she didn't have anything better to do.

It wasn't what she was expecting. It was a mini chapter rather than an extended author's note, and it described a personal experience.

 _Lenna and I were in the ninth month of our courtship, and as happy as we ever had been. She was a wonderful creature, well-tempered and beautiful, with eyes of an incredible cornflower blue that I fell more in love with each time I gazed into them. The older men had been ribbing me since the Summer Solstice, joking that I should wed her before she came to her senses and realised she could do better than me! I took it in good humour, but secretly I made plans to ask for Lenna's hand in marriage._

 _I had been tasked with clearing out a pack of Gorgonopsids that were venturing close to our village. They were vicious predators, but lazy, and couldn't resist attacking our livestock if they could, so every once in a while they needed to be beaten back. Two hunters and I headed out mid-morning, to the bluff that overlooked our houses. Atop it was a small cave-system which connected all over this area, and there were tracks leading in and out._

 _Between the three of us, in a confined space, it didn't take long to scare them off. We lit torches and stood in the cave entrance, shouting and waving. The flickering light and the loud noises disorientated the creatures and, assuming we were a bigger threat than they could deal with, quickly retreated._

 _We were confident that it would be a while until they returned, so we headed for home, happy that our village was safe for the meantime._

 _Barely out of sight of the cave, we were startled when a loud roar came from behind us. Reaching for our weapons, we turned around and were amazed to see an enormous Gorgonopsid appear from the cave we had just been in! It was easily half the size again of a regular Gorgonopsid, and its fur was a wondrous golden colour. We had never seen such a creature before._

 _It roared again, shaking the leaves in the tree with its ferocity, and before we knew what was happening, it leapt towards us. We scattered ourselves, and narrowly avoided having our insides carved open by the first swipe of its massive paw._

 _Quickly gathering our wits, we surrounded the creature and tried to fend it off. It was such a unique specimen, and incredible to watch, that I was loath to kill it. That feeling wore off after it tried to decapitate me for the second time._

 _Eventually we managed to wear it down, and I was lucky enough to strike the killing blow. We were dog-tired, and covered in cuts and scrapes, but thrilled with our effort. Between the three of us we managed to field-dress it, truss it up and carry it home, but it took a long time. The Gorgonopsid was an absolute dead-weight. We were out far longer than we had intended to be, so long i that when we made it back to the village boundary there was a small search party being gathered. In hindsight we should have sent a message – hunters can run into trouble too easily, and people are quick to worry when we don't return on time._

 _Anyway, our tardiness soon paled in comparison to the reaction given to our Golden Gorgonopsid. We shared the tale of our exploit and I was clapped on the back so many times for striking the final blow that I thought I was going to be covered in bruises for a week! The creature was given to the senior hunters to skin and butcher, whilst we went for a well-deserved rest._

 _After a hunt, the meat is taken to the cold-store, the pelts are taken to the workshop and the miscellaneous bits are given to any trades that need them. So imagine my surprise when I got to the front door the next morning and almost tripped over a bundle of fur!_

 _It had been decided that for my bravery at killing the beast, I was to be rewarded with its golden pelt. I was speechless at the honour I had been given. No one in the village had even heard of a Gorgonopsid with colouring like this, so for a young man like me to have possession of the only one was humbling._

 _I had been waiting for the right moment to propose to Lenna, and now that I had the pelt, inspiration struck me._

 _It was a somewhat old-fashioned, if still practised, tradition to present the parents of your prospective bride with hunting trophies as a dowry. I toyed with the idea of doing that for Lenna's parents, but this pelt was so unusual that I knew something special needed to be done with it._

 _I laboured for three days and nights, cutting and stitching and hemming. Needlework wasn't my natural world, but this was the most important thing I could ever do, so I tried my best. Eventually I had the finished product, and I was thrilled. I hoped Lenna felt the same, so I immediately went to find her._

 _I asked for her hand in marriage, and she accepted. I already had a betrothal necklace, which I gave her, but I also had my second gift. I had turned the golden pelt into two pairs of boots; one for me and one for her. They were lightweight and waterproof, similar to many of the everyday footwear worn by our people, but the colour made them stand out._ _Lenna was delighted with them, and we were joined together by the next full moon._

 _For those wondering about the dowry, I persuaded the chief to let me have the Gorgonopsid head. I boiled it down to the bone, polished it and mounted it. Lenna's parents were thrilled to have the skull of such a rare creature, and they gave me their blessing._

 _It has been five years since that wonderful day, and Lenna and I are still married, and wearing our boots!_

 _So there you have it! The rather round-about tale of how my wife and I came to be engaged. There was never any doubt in my mind that she would say no, but who wants to take a chance? So when it comes to affairs of the heart, my advice to everyone is to make sure you always have a Gorgonopsid pelt to hand, and let your craftwork speak for itself!_

Lightning set the book down, hands shaking slightly. Maybe she was just overtired, maybe it was just because she had Fang on the brain, Etro, it could have been because of the weather, but this story struck a chord with her. She was leaning against a Gorgonopsid pelt which had been a gift. And Fang had seemed a little bit jumpy when Lightning asked about it. But this book implied it was a dowry or offering of some kind. Lightning wasn't a parent. Unless it was for Serah, but Fang must have been playing it very close to her chest if she was romantically interested in her.

She felt her stomach sink at the idea of Fang and Serah together, but tried not to read too much into it.

So either the pelt was meant for Lightning after all, or the whole thing was a coincidence. It would lend credence to Lebreau's perceived notion of an intimate relationship, but she still wasn't sure. Her mind had been running in circles all night and all morning and she was exhausted with trying to analyse what she felt.

She tossed the book onto the coffee table and pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn't even read in peace without breaking into another crisis of confusion. Maybe it would be better if she went back to bed and just pretending that this whole day wasn't happening. That way she wouldn't have to talk to anyone or have perplexing notions cloud her mind.

Lightning was halfway convinced that she would just shut herself away from the world today, when there was a knock on the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Lebreau stood nervously on Lightning's porch, hand suspended in a fist just shy of the door. She had been feeling guilty over her misunderstanding all night, and decided it would be best to apologise. Hey, she didn't mean it, just a little joke you know, just a bit of fun, although if it turned out to be true then check you, down with your bad self, give me all the details. Then Lightning would accept her apology and they could all get on with their days.

That was the theory anyway.

She twitched her fist towards the door again before pulling back. Lebreau knew that Lightning would forgive her, because she just wasn't the type to hold grudges. But she couldn't shake the fact that her friend could be highly intimidating.

Shaking her head at herself for thinking uncharitably, Lebreau rapped smartly on the wooden frame before she could change her mind, and waited.

It took a little bit of time, but eventually she could hear shuffling from inside the house. Quickly checking her watch, Lebreau noted that it was long past the hour Lightning usually awoke, so she wasn't concerned that she had roused her friend from slumber. When the door creaked open and a pyjama-clad Lightning stood peering out at her, she quickly changed her opinion.

"Hey Lightning. Um, I didn't wake you, did I?" she asked. "I didn't think it was that early." She checked her watch again.

"I've been up for a while," Lightning said, not bothered by the fact she was still in sleepwear. She was relieved that out of everyone, it was Lebreau standing on her step. The affable barmaid was about the only person she had the strength to deal with today. "I was going to put the kettle back on," she said, before disappearing back into the house.

Lebreau took that as a cue to invite herself in. She stepped into the main living area and blinked. It had been a few weeks since she had last been in the house, but there was something different about it. "Have you redecorated in here?" she asked.

Lightning sighed from her position by the counter. "No," she said. "It's the Scales by the fireplace." She waved an arm in its direction.

"Oh wow Light, these are so cool," Lebreau exclaimed as she stepped over to the hearth. "They really make the room stand out."

Lightning brought over two steaming mugs of coffee, handing one over to Lebreau and cradling in other in her hand. "Yeah, Serah said the same thing," she replied dully.

"You don't like them?" Lebreau asked. "I think they're awesome. Isn't that pelt new as well?" She gestured to the chair.

"Yes, it is." Lightning flopped down onto the small sofa, leaving the Gorgonopsid chair for Lebreau.

"It's lovely and soft," she remarked, running a hand over it before she sat down. "I always thought their fur would've been coarser."

Lightning nodded absently in response.

Seeing that it was going to up to her to keep the conversational ball rolling, Lebreau decided to bite the bullet and apologise. "Look, about what I said last night," she began, "I was tired and I let my imagination run away with me, and I didn't mean to make you upset or uncomfortable. What you and Fang do or don't get up to isn't any of my business, and I shouldn't have tried to get involved. You don't wear your heart on your sleeve like some people, and that's cool, and I shouldn't expect you to tell me anything when I'm just being nosey. I'm sorry for what happened." Speech over, she sipped nervously on her drink, waiting for Lightning to react.

The pinkette ran a finger around the rim of her cup as she listened to Lebreau talk. Her mind felt so frazzled that she heard the words, and she understood the meaning behind the words, but she just couldn't process them.

Instead of acknowledging Lebreau's act of contrition, Lightning voiced the thoughts she had been having since reading the end of her book. She gestured towards the scales. "You like those, right?"

"The scales?" Lebreau looked carefully to check they were talking about the same thing. She didn't see how this non sequitur related to her apology, but knew that humouring Lightning would be a good idea if they were to remain square. "Yeah, they're really nice," she said. "I love the shape. They look a bit like flowers from here. Did you make them?"

"Fang got them for me. Hunted them down, actually. Went off and killed four Sahagin and polished their Scales and gave them to me just because she thought they'd suit the place." Lightning said, no hint of emotion flickering behind her eyes.

Lebreau felt lost in this conversation. Lightning wasn't naïve enough to have a moral objection to creature components in her house, so her problem, if she actually had one, was related to something else. "Oh," she ended up saying, rather lamely. "That was nice of her?"

Lightning ignored her. "And then the week before that she had to kill a Gorgonopsid, and decided to give me the pelt. Just left it on the doorstep, all cleaned and treated."

"Well it looks good, very rustic," Lebreau tried.

"I didn't ask her about it at the time because she seemed shifty and embarrassed, and frankly I was a bit too tipsy to be play private investigator. I didn't think it was going to be anything more than a kind gesture anyway. But I brought up the scales yesterday she told me that I was worth it. And Serah said the same thing when she brought me home," Lightning said, in that same unrevealing tone of voice.

Lebreau stayed quiet, waiting for her cue. Lightning seemed to be just thinking out loud at the moment, and she didn't want to interrupt.

"I didn't think too much about it at the time. We were hunting, and I wanted to stay focused on the task. Besides, giving gifts to friends is a perfectly normal thing to do." Lightning made eye contact for the first time since she had sat down, and Lebreau was quick to nod and agree with that sentiment. The pinkette seemed reassured. She then took the copy of _The Pulsian Guide to Hunting_ that was sitting on the coffee table and handed it over. Lebreau accepted it cautiously.

"Then I read the epilogue of this book," Lightning continued. "I was trying to keep my mind occupied after our conversation yesterday. And I had almost managed it until I got to the last few pages." She gestured towards the book.

Lebreau slowly opened it up, unsure of what she was going to find. She turned to the epilogue, glancing up at Lightning to check she was on the right track and then settled in to read.

Lightning watched as she did so. A part of her felt bad for putting the barmaid on the spot when all she wanted to do was apologise for a silly comment. If this had been any other day, or any other comment, Lightning would have let it go. But another, bigger part of her, really wanted some clarity on her emotions.

Lebreau could almost feel Lightning's eyes bore into her as she read, and she resisted the urge to squirm under the pressure. This morning was shaping up to be a lot different to what she was expecting. Either Lightning would have been pissed at her for making assumptions about her life, and they would have argued it out for a while, or Lightning would have already forgotten her comments and the point would be moot.

Rather than focus on that, she concentrated on the book instead, paying close mind to anything that might explain her friend's erratic mood. At the first mention of a Gorgonopsid, Lebreau's attention was piqued, and the more of the story she got through, the more she thought she understood. She reached the end of the book, and closed it gently.

"I see," she said, not sure of what else to say.

"Between that and your comments yesterday, I just feel like my head is filled to capacity," Lightning said resignedly. "I don't know whether I'm reading too much into things that aren't there, or ignoring signs that are. I just don't know what I'm doing," she finished quietly, bringing her legs up to her chest and hugging herself.

Lebreau could almost feel the vulnerability seeping from Lightning, and her heart lurched in sympathy.

"Is it just the thing about this pelt that is bothering you?" she asked. "It might just be coincidence. Just because this guy gave a fancy skin to his missus doesn't mean it's a universal symbol of affection, right? Whatever happened to flowers? And you know what I'm like when my mouth starts to run away with me. My mind is always in the gutter."

Much as she hated playing Devil's advocate when she was desperate for her friends to get together, Lebreau knew Lightning was completely out of her depth. Clearly this was Fang's big idea that Serah was talking about yesterday.

Lightning was the type of person that needed to understand all points of view before coming to a conclusion, and Lebreau was going to help with that.

"It's not just the pelt," Lightning replied. "But that's a big part of it. I mean, Fang gave me this book, telling me she thought I'd enjoy it. Then she turns up with two gifts for me, hunting trophies, that she got solely because she thought I'd like them. By themselves they might be a coincidence, but all three?" She stared at the scales, as if hoping they would reveal their true nature.

"Do you like the trophies?" Lebreau asked. "Without thinking about any symbolism they might have, do you like them?"

Lightning tilted her head as she observed the rest of her living room, soaking up the décor as a whole. "I do," she said eventually. "Very much. I didn't realise how plain it was in here until they were added."

"Just go with that, then." Lebreau suggested simply, trying to give Lightning an out if she wanted to take it. "It doesn't matter whether five hundred years ago people did or didn't use things like that as engagement gifts, or dowries or whatever. Fang did a nice thing – three nice things, actually – and you like them. That should be the important thing."

"But it does matter though," Lightning argued. "If Fang gave them to me with a purpose in mind, and I haven't done the right thing…" she trailed off, unsure of what she was trying to say. To be honest, she didn't know what the right thing would be, let alone if she was going to be capable of doing it.

"Hey hey," Lebreau said soothingly. "Look, all we know for sure is that Fang went out of her way to do something nice, which you appreciate. You know she wouldn't expect you to do anything you didn't want to, and I'd bet the bar she doesn't require any kind of compensation."

Lightning was quiet as she took that information in. She still looked conflicted, and Lebreau knew that this conversation was a long way from being over.

"Do you think that they are though?" Lightning asked. "Supposed to be signs of…signs of…" she cleared her throat, frustrated at her inability to finish her sentence.

"If they are," Lebreau began, not for a moment believing that were was any 'if' involved, "you know Fang doesn't want anything from you that you aren't willing to give. The fact that she hasn't made a big deal of it only goes to prove it." Fang certainly had a unique approach to courtship, Lebreau thought to herself. Bits of dead creatures didn't exactly scream romance, at least to her. But Fang was approaching this from a hunter-gatherer perspective, which must have been popular was Fang was younger. And she realised that any overt declaration of romantic intention would have Lightning running for the hills. Slow and steady wins the race and all.

Lightning nodded unsurely, still curled in on herself. She looked slightly calmer than she did before, but Lebreau knew her friend was still in turmoil. She got up from the chair and plopped down on the sofa next to Lightning, close enough that their bodies were sharing heat. Lebreau gave her a moment to adjust to her presence. "What would you think if they were tokens of affection?" she asked carefully.

Lightning stiffened, and Lebreau held her breath. That was the million-gil question, wasn't it?

Lightning fidgeted on the spot. She had been wondering the same thing ever since Lebreau's mistake last night. "I think," she began slowly, "that now the idea is in my head, I can't see them as anything else."

That wasn't the answer Lebreau was looking for, but she let it slide. "What do you suppose you will do now?"

"Do?" Lightning turned to look at her, eyes wide.

Lebreau tried to tread carefully. "Now that you think Fang is trying to show you how she feels. How are you going to react?"

Lightning let go of her legs, and they thudded down to the floor as she sank down into the sofa cushions. She hadn't thought about that at all. She was so busy being swept away in memories and fantasies that the idea she would have to do something about it hadn't occurred to her. What did Fang want from her? What was the message she was trying to give? What was the right thing to do?

Lebreau sat quietly watching. She could almost see the cogs turn in Lightning's head as she deliberated, and she hoped that the pinkette would have the courage to accept what everyone knew to be true.

"I don't know how I feel about her," Lightning said, exasperated with herself.

"You must know a few things," Lebreau said encouragingly. "It doesn't have to be related to the situation with the hunting trophies. Just say whatever pops into your head."

"Well," Lightning began slowly, trying to compile a mental list. She had never had to analyse her feelings towards someone before. "I know that she's probably my best friend. That we get on really well and have the same sort of drive. I know that the first time I met her, I warmed to her almost immediately, and you know that isn't like me."

Lebreau chuckled at the self-effacing comment, but allowed Lightning to continue speaking.

"I know that she probably the only person I touch who isn't Serah," she continued. She furrowed her brow as she remembered the night Fang came around and cooked dinner. "Actually I think I hugged her the other evening. I mean, I hugged her yesterday, but she was upset and I was comforting her. This was, I don't know, hugging for the sake of hugging. She had come around after a trip and cooked me dinner and we spent the evening in each other's company. It was a very relaxing time." Relaxing and right, she thought. That evening with Fang felt very domestic, and Lightning had liked it.

Another thought struck her. "And I kissed her yesterday."

Lebreau choked on the mouthful of coffee she was drinking, and started spluttering in shock. "You did what?" she gasped. And she had been given grief for suggesting the grins the pair of them were sporting were down to sex.

Next to her, Lightning just realised what she had said. "No, no, not like that," she backpedalled. "On the forehead. I kissed her on the forehead."

"Oh, right." Lebreau was rubbing her chest, trying to ease down the hot liquid caught in her throat. "That makes more sense." It wasn't as exciting as the tongue wrestling scenario she had imagined, but it was at least a start. Actually, for Lightning it probably was the equivalent of tongue wrestling.

"I don't really know why I did it," Lightning said, frowning as she tried to remember the context.

"Maybe that tells you something," Lebreau suggested. At Lightning's quizzical expression, she clarified. "That you kissed her for no reason other than you wanted to kiss her."

"Do you think so?"

Lebreau shrugged.

Lightning huffed out a breath. "I'm still confused though," she admitted.

"And that's absolutely fine," Lebreau said. "No one expects you to have all the answers right away. Least of all, Fang. Come on, that woman is pretty much the queen of waiting. She spent five hundred and three years in crystal stasis, for Etro's sake."

This wrought a smile from Lightning, the first of all morning. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Lebreau scoffed. "I've been mothering you people for years! If I wasn't keeping you all in check, who knows what mayhem you'd run into?"

Lightning rolled her eyes at Lebreau's attempt at levity. "I expect we'd end up destroying Cocoon, guarding goddesses and skipping across time and space."

"Exactly," Lebreau nodded sagely. "Take your Auntie Lebreau's advice and think about it. Nothing worse can happen than what you've already been through."

"That's…oddly comforting, actually."

"Good." Lebreau gave her a stunning smile, before she slid into a more serious expression. "Look, Light. I just want you and Fang to be happy. We all do. More than anything, we want you to do happy together, because we can see the signs. And if it's meant to be, then it's meant to be. But don't force yourself into doing something you aren't comfortable with. You aren't obligated to do anything here. Fang would be mortified if she thought she had placed you under pressure. Just roll the idea around a bit and see how it goes."

Lightning nodded uncertainly, still a little bit bemused by the concept. She looked a lot calmer now that she had gotten to air her concerns, but Lebreau could still feel a little bit of tension radiating. Hardly surprising, she thought to herself. This was probably the most intense personal situation that Lightning had been in since Serah was cursed. And before that it would have been the time her parents had died, all those years ago. You couldn't blame her for having an aversion to emotional encounters.

"I'm just not sure if it's something I'll be good at," Lightning confessed. "I don't really have a point of reference to work from."

Lebreau almost snickered at the morose look on Lightning's face. If it wasn't for the miscellaneous weapons dotted about the room she might have. "You don't need to work from a plan, Light. Fang has been paying attention to you ever since you met. Give her some credit. She _knows_ you, and she likes you the way you are."

Lightning didn't look convinced.

"Look at us now," Lebreau instructed, opening her hands to indicate their position next to each other on the sofa. "You opened the door to me in your pyjamas – which are cute, by the way – invited me in for coffee-"

"You invited yourself in, I only opened the door," Lightning interjected. Lebreau ignored her.

"-and we've spent the last half an hour having an enlightening heart-to-heart. Face it; this would never have ever happened back on Cocoon. The closed-off Sergeant Farron wouldn't have let anybody see her in a state of vulnerability." Lebreau reached over and patted Lightning on the knee. "This version of you, the one that helps people to build houses, and goes hunting with her friends and spends her Sunday mornings worrying that she might not be good enough for someone, this version of you is nothing like the one you have in your head. She is kind and generous and-" Lebreau paused here and raised a finger, "-at the risk of flogging a dead chocobo, she is worth the effort. You deserve to be happy. Perhaps more than anyone else."

Lightning could feel a lump build up in her throat at the impassioned words of the barmaid. Lebreau was right, her impression of herself wasn't particularly positive. For a long time she had based her identity on her position. After her parents died, she shunned Claire and became Lightning, Guardian Corps soldier. After that she became a Pulse L'Cie, destined to destroy Cocoon. Not to forget her three year tenure in Valhalla, as Etro's Champion.

Since her return to what passed for a normal life, she felt like Lightning was coming back. A young woman with a burden no greater than to keep an eye on her younger sister, and to work an honest job.

If Lebreau was right and, as much as Lightning was scared to admit it, she probably was – having a sixth sense for knowing just what to say must be part and parcel of running a bar – everyone else was starting to see Claire, not Lightning. She thought she had only returned to her pre-L'Cie frame of mind, but apparently it was her original personality that was showing.

And that was an idea she could barely wrap her head around.

She needed to get a handle on what she was feeling. If she decided that her relationship with Fang was more than platonic (and the more she thought about it, the more she thought it was), this could be the catalyst needed to allow herself to become Claire again.

"Thank you, Lebreau," Lightning managed to say without letting her voice tremble. "You've been very kind."

"That's what friends are for," Lebreau said. "We believe in you when you don't believe in yourself." Then she winked and nudged Lightning. "Also we do it because you'll owe us the next time we need help at the bar."

Lightning laughed, and that diffused the last of the tension that was in the room. She felt lighter than she had done in twenty-four hours, now that she had managed to vocalise her concerns. The twisted fog that had been clouding her mind all morning felt like it had been lifted. It was still threatening to descend again, but now she felt more in control, and control was something Lightning could cope with.

"I'd be happy to help you whenever you need it," she promised.

"I'll hold you to that," Lebreau joked. She looked at the time before sighing. "I guess I'd better get back to it. I told Yuj he could help me make this week's batch of cakes, but if he starts without me he's bound to break something."

Lightning stood up with Lebreau and walked her to the front door. "It was good to see you, truly. We don't get much chance to talk without something getting in the way, do we?"

Lebreau shook her head. "That's the curse of being constantly in demand," she said airily.

"I think I've done my share of being in demand."

"True enough. We'll try and organise something in the week, if you like. The bar is closed on Wednesday. If you need to talk more about Fang, or just hang out, we can," Lebreau suggested.

"I'd like that. It shouldn't be too hard to get the afternoon off." Lightning leaned against the wall. "But I think I'm all talked out. It'd be nice just to put our feet up and relax."

"Ha, I never thought I'd see the day you wanted to relax. Didn't realise it was in your vocabulary," Lebreau said cheekily.

Lightning rolled her eyes and made mock-impatient gestures for Lebreau to get out of the house. The barmaid just winked at her as she sauntered out onto the deck.

"Lebreau?" Lightning asked, as the woman in question was halfway down the steps. "If you see Serah or…Fang…could you tell them that I don't want to see them today?" She huffed. "That sounds bad, doesn't it? I just need some time to myself, to think things through, you know?" She looked at Lebreau with questioning eyes.

Lebreau knew exactly what she meant. "I get it. I'll tell them not to bother you, but I'll let them know you're okay. They're probably a bit concerned after last night."

"Thanks," Lightning said. "I'll see you Wednesday then, if I don't see you before."

"Will do. Try not to overthink this, yeah?"

"I'll try."

Lightning waved Lebreau off, before closing the door and letting out a sigh of relief. Much as she had gotten used to a fairly intense social life since moving to New Bodhum, there were occasions when she liked nothing better than time to herself. And trying to figure out this conundrum was something that could only happen when she had nothing to distract her.

* * *

Lebreau walked back into NORA house, still pleased with herself that Lightning had accepted her apology, and had even gone one step further by admitting that she had insecurities. The barmaid felt like she had more than made up for her silly mistake last night, and thanked her lucky stars that she hadn't managed to scare Lightning off.

Following her talk with Serah, Lebreau was kicking herself that she might have jumped the gun and ruined any chance her friends had of getting together. After this morning however, she was more confident that what she had actually done was give Lightning a well-needed push in the right direction. From the impression the pinkette had given her, the idea of starting a relationship with Fang was appealing, but whether Lightning could make herself vulnerable and allow herself to rely on another person was a different matter.

Serah was in the kitchen when Lebreau walked in, sipping on a cup of tea as she watched Yuj very diligently weigh out flour and butter. Truth be told, Lebreau was expecting ingredients to be all over the wall and floor, but it looked like today was going one of the rare days the young boy decided not to mess around. She gave him an encouraging nod and ruffled his hair as she passed, prompting him to squirm and fidget away.

"Morning Lebreau," Serah greeted. "Not like you to be out and about when havoc is being wreaked in your kitchen."

"Hey!" Yuj called indignantly, a smudge of flour on his cheek. The two women laughed.

"I went over to see Lightning and apologise for last night," Lebreau explained.

"Is she alright? She isn't freaking out is she?" Serah asked, worry clear on her face.

"No, she's fine," Lebreau said. "Actually, she might be better than fine."

Serah looked confused.

"We ended up in a bit of a philosophical debate." Lebreau glanced up to make sure Yuj was still immersed in his baking, and leaned closer to Serah. "She figured out what Fang was up to with those gifts she's been giving her, and was panicking about what they meant and what she was supposed to do," she said lowly.

Serah interrupted. "Oh Etro, she isn't mad is she?"

"She wasn't mad, just confused. Anyway we talked about it and she's going to give the idea some thought."

"Wow." Serah blinked, hardly believing what she was hearing. "So she knows Fang really likes her and instead of freaking out, she's actually thinking about her feelings. That's incredible." She bounced on her heels, hardly able to contain her glee. "I can't wait for them to get together!"

"Well, it's not a done deal yet," Lebreau warned. "She doesn't want anyone to bother her today, either. She was a bit overwhelmed, and kind of needs the space to process."

"Ohh," Serah pouted, disappointed that she couldn't go and see her sister. "Fine. I'll tell Fang as well. But I really hope Light decides to go for it."

Lebreau smiled. "We all do."


	10. Chapter 10

**Well, I confused the heck out of myself earlier, because I'm fairly certain there were three chapters left. Apparently I'm just not very good at dividing things into equal sections. Anyway, this is the penultimate chapter! Please enjoy it!**

By the time Monday morning came around, and Lightning was getting ready for work, she was in a much better frame of mind. After Lebreau had left yesterday, Lightning had sat back down and done some serious thinking. Not just about Fang but about her life and where she was going.

For probably the first time, Lightning had the opportunity to do something selfish. There was no money needing to be earned to keep a roof over her head, no little sister to care for, no big bad threatening to take over the world. There was just her, her rustic little house and endless, carefree days to fill. Obviously she still wanted to work for a living – sitting idle just wasn't her style – but it was a choice rather than an obligation. Her construction work on the new houses was only a few months from completion, and when it was over she would need a new trade. Being technically on the books with the Guardian Corps was useful, but wasn't something Lightning was looking to return to, even if it could be turned into a full-time job. New Bodhum was a bit of a crime-free haven, and even if it wasn't, Lightning had done her fair share of chasing after people who couldn't take no for an answer.

She wouldn't mind becoming a huntress, or doing something out in the wilds. Gran Pulse had a wild charm to it that appealed to the primal part of Lightning's soul. She had the advantage over everyone in that she had spent time on Gran Pulse before the move from Cocoon, and knew a bit about the local area.

If she became a huntress, she could spend more time with Fang.

Being completely honest with herself, which was fairly novel, that was one of the major factors compelling Lightning towards a career in hunting. She had most of the basics down; simple tracking was a skill taught in the Guardian Corps, and she had an almost peerless knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the local wildlife. Not to mention her talent with a blade. But the chance to spend hours out under the sun, with only Fang for company, had a definite appeal.

Lightning had been thinking long and hard about her feelings toward the tall brunette after her eye-opening conversation with Lebreau. Whilst she still couldn't put an actual name on their relationship, she was starting to come around to the idea of Fang liking her in a romantic way.

They already had a rock-solid friendship, and knew everything there was to know about each other, which helped. There wasn't anything about each other that could be revealed and scare the other. They spent a large chunk of their spare time either hanging out at the bar, or at Lightning's house, or just out and about. Ever since their meeting in Palumpolum, they felt a natural affinity for each other's presence. They got on with each other's sister like a house on fire, which was a huge bonus for Lightning. Like Vanille for Fang, Serah was her only family, and her acceptance would mean the world.

Having been plagued by the constant tumbling images of Fang in varying states of undress all of Saturday night, two days later Lightning was becoming inured to them. Not in the sense that they were becoming dull and repetitive, Etro no. A little secret part of her mind hoped they would never lose their charm. No, Lightning was getting used to having them inside her head.

Now that the initial shock had worn off, Lightning was finding guilty pleasure in her fantasies. None of them were X-rated – not even in the privacy of her own head would she allow herself that – but they were certainly providing her with some titillation. She had never met anyone before whom she found interesting or attractive enough to daydream about. It was quite fascinating to see how her mind worked, now that she had given it free rein to imagine whatever it wanted.

One of her big concerns was that she didn't know if her fantasies were a sign of genuine attraction, or if her mind was going overboard on a new obsession. There was nothing she could use as a ballpark for these thoughts; everything was brand new. She'd never forgive herself if all these thoughts were a phase, and she ended up stringing Fang along.

Somehow she didn't think that was going to be the case.

It had only ever been Fang as the key player in her imagination, and it had only ever been Fang she was unconsciously drawn towards.

Lebreau raised the very good point that the huntress wasn't trying to impose or force herself on Lightning. Which was something she was endlessly thankful for. It was bad enough having to run the idea around in her head, let alone if she was constantly being pestered about it. But, as was pointed out, Fang knew Lightning. And she knew what would make her run a mile.

Lightning had been musing about where she would go from here. Now that she and Fang were on the same page, or at least reading the same book, someone needed to make the next move. The problem from Lightning's point of view was that Fang didn't know she knew. Which meant Lightning would have to pluck up the courage to say something.

She could wait for Fang to wend her way to the end of whatever long-term plan she was working from, but that wouldn't be fair. And, said the voice in the back of her mind, now that she was clued in, she didn't want to wait. She didn't know what she was going to do or say when she spoke to Fang, but she didn't want to wait. From her jaded experience, saying she would do something next week would mean New Bodhum falling into the sea tomorrow.

Just going up to Fang and announcing that she had finally worked out the brunette was infatuated with her would be ten types of awkward, and certainly not her style. She was toying with the idea of following in the footsteps of her hunting book, and slaying some grand beast to present to Fang. That was definitely more her style. One issue was that it would essentially be a rehash of the Gorgonopsid and Sahagins Fang killed for her, and therefore not very imaginative. The other issue would be the redundancy of hunting down hunting trophies for a huntress. But she needed to do something to show her appreciation for Fang. Everyone liked a present to feel appreciated.

Maybe she could talk to Lebreau about it on Wednesday, and see if she could come up with any ideas. The barmaid did have a tendency to get overenthusiastic about things like this, but Lightning had to give her credit where it was due, because Lebreau was quite restrained yesterday.

She stepped off the path and over a small pile of timbers onto the construction site. At this earlier time of morning only Ricard was around, scribbling notes onto a set of blueprints he had laid on a workbench.

"Good morning Ricard," she greeted as she walked over.

He looked up as she approached, not surprised the pinkette was the first person on site. "Hi Lightning. Good weekend?" he asked.

"It was fine," she responded politely, deciding that a blow-by-blow account of her tumultuous two days off wouldn't be the appropriate answer to a casual enquiry. "How about you?"

"Aye, fine. Nice to have the chance to stop and unwind, eh?"

"Right." Lightning went to walk past the big man, but paused when she drew level. "Hey, what is the schedule like for the rest of this build?"

Ricard chewed thoughtfully on the end of a pencil. "Well," he began slowly. "Most of our work on this house is done. It just needs to be fitted out. The other two houses probably have another few weeks work in them. This project looks like it'll run for another month or so." He looked at Lightning to gauge her reaction.

She nodded thoughtfully as the information sunk in.

"After this is over, I've a job extending the residential area by the beach, if you wanted more work?" Ricard offered. "You've picked it up well, and I could always use more hands."

Lightning shook her head. "Actually, I think I might call it quits after this is done. I've been giving it some thought, and seeing that hunting was always part of the bigger plan I'm thinking about putting my efforts into that."

Ricard smiled knowingly. "Ah yes. I'm sure Fang can always find room to accommodate you."

That sounded like a thinly-veiled euphemism, but Lightning ignored it.

"If you wanted to put a rush on your new career in hunting, I'm sure we could work something out around here," Ricard continued.

"No, I want to see this through first," she said. "I've been enjoying the construction work. I just fancy a change."

"Well, that's fair," Ricard replied. "It'll be a shame to lose you of course, but you need to do what's right for you. Let me know if you change your mind about quitting early."

"Actually, if it's alright with you, I'd like to have Wednesday afternoon off. Lebreau was going to help me with something."

"Doesn't sound like it'll be a problem. I think you've done more than your fair share over the past few weeks anyway. You ladies doing anything nice?" Ricard was intrigued by the notion of Lightning wanting time off, especially if it was to gain help from someone. He had only known her for a few months, but it was obvious that she was a fiercely independent young woman, and definitely not one to shy away from hard work.

"Oh, I was just going to ask her about something we talked about over the weekend. Thanks." She turned and headed inside to start work before Ricard had a chance to respond or ask more questions. He watched her retreating back for a moment before turning back to his blueprints. He wasn't what he'd call savvy when it came to understanding the minds of the fairer sex, especially emotionally reserved ones like Lightning, but this sounded like it was going to be a big deal.

He looked forward to hearing about the outcome.

* * *

Lebreau pottered around on the deck of NORA house, deadheading flowers and straightening pots as she waited on Lightning. When she got to thinking about it, she couldn't remember the last time she and Lightning hung out deliberately. Obviously they saw each other all the time, but they never actually 'made plans'. Lebreau had no idea what to expect, and therefore no idea what to wear. She settled on her usual ensemble of short shorts and a loose blouse. It was an outfit she found that worked for almost any occasion.

Serah had seemed a little surprised that her sister was opting to spend the afternoon with the barmaid instead of having lunch with her. She recovered quickly when she realised that after their little bonding session on Sunday, Lightning seemed to be comfortable confiding in Lebreau about personal matters. She was secretly hoping that Lebreau was going to guide Lightning into a big epiphany about Fang, and they would become a couple, and everyone could finally find something else to obsess over.

Lebreau was hoping for a nice afternoon in the sunshine, preferably with alcohol.

Serah was taking lunch in the schoolhouse with Vanille so they could go over lesson plans. Fang had been out all week with some trainee hunters, showing them the areas of interest in the Yaschas Massif. It hadn't been her job originally but Scott, who was supposed to do it, broke his ankle, so Fang stepped in. She wasn't thrilled at roughing it in the Wilds when she could be spending the week with Lightning, but she didn't complain. She was the most skilled huntress in the town after all, and if she couldn't show new recruits the ropes, then what good was she? Vanille had promised to work on the metalwork for the Entrancing Tail whilst she was gone and Fang couldn't wait to pick it up.

With everyone else out or busy, Lebreau blew out a breath as she sat on the deck by herself. The sun was out in full force again, and she threw her head back and reclined, basking in the warm rays. She was so content that she didn't hear the footsteps pad along the sand, and jumped when a husky voice sounded next to her.

"Is someone shooting a calendar I didn't know about?" Lightning said.

Lebreau's hand slipped from under her, and she toppled backwards, yelping in surprise. There was a sound of tinkling laughter from by her feet, and as she lay blinking up at the sky, an amused Lightning came into view.

"You alright there, Lebreau?" she asked, still smirking.

"Lightning?" Lebreau said, a little dazed from her sudden change from vertical to horizontal, and the clattering of her head against the decking.

"Here," Lightning said, offering her hand out. Lebreau accepted it and Lightning pulled her to her feet. "Sorry I startled you. I thought you heard me coming."

"I was miles away," Lebreau admitted, brushing her clothes down. "The sun was so nice that I almost drifted off."

Lightning nodded in understanding.

"Have you had any lunch yet?" Lebreau asked. She gestured back into the bar. "There's bread and cheese and things in the kitchen if you're hungry."

"I ate before I came out," Lightning replied. "I, uh, didn't want to…" she paused, eyes sliding towards the front door. "I didn't want to run into anyone." She was still a little bit emotionally fraught from the weekend.

Lebreau would have put good money on 'anyone' being interchangeable with 'Fang' but didn't question it. "Well, your sister and Vanille are at school, the boys are out in the growing fields and Fang is away all week."

Lightning jerked her head to face her. "Fang's away? Where has she gone?"

If it were anyone else but Lightning, Lebreau thought, the look of mild panic on her face would be hysterical. Out loud she said, "There was some kind of mix-up? She had to take a bunch of newbies out to Yaschas Massif for training. She'll be back on Friday."

"Oh." Lightning was relieved that she wouldn't have to run into the huntress whilst she wasn't ready, but at the same time she was disappointed that she couldn't see her. "I didn't know that."

"It's difficult to know when you haven't dropped by for a few days," Lebreau said lightly. "I might start to get offended."

Lightning shrugged. "I've had a lot to think about. I didn't want to see anyone before I was ready." She gazed out across for the beach for a moment before she said, "Did anyone notice?"

"That you haven't been seen since Saturday? No one has said anything if they had. Fang left early Monday morning so she wouldn't have noticed." Lebreau walked inside as she was talking, grabbing a jug of fruit punch and two glasses that were sitting on the bar before coming back outside. She poured a glass and handed it to Lightning. "I told Serah after I came around the other day that you didn't want to be bothered. I guess she spread the word to Vanille."

Lightning accepted the drink and sipped at it. "I should probably check in with them. I didn't mean to be absent. It just sort of happened."

"I'm sure they understand. Besides, it's not like you disappeared off halfway around the world for months on end without so much as a phone call. You are entitled to your own space. And you've never really been one for mass socialising anyway." Lebreau took a big gulp of punch and sat back down on the deck. "Did your thinking lead you to any conclusions?"

Lightning looked around as if paranoid someone would hear them, before sitting herself gently down next to the barmaid. "Well, I was trying to be logical about it. I came up with pros and cons, and whys and wherefores, reasons for, reasons against."

"And?"

"And nothing," Lightning said, minor frustration lacing her tone. "I came up with all the arguments under the sun but no matter what I came up with, I couldn't shake the fact that I care about Fang."

"But do you care about her in the same way that she cares about you?" Lebreau asked.

"I don't know." Lightning chewed her lip for a moment, avoiding eye contact. How could she know it was love when she'd never felt it before? "But," she said quietly, "I think I'd like to find out."

Lebreau couldn't help herself. She squealed and slapped Lightning on the leg before pulling her into a fierce hug.

"What the-"

"This is brilliant," Lebreau gushed. "I can't believe you're going to go for it!" She pretended to wipe a tear away from her eye. "You dream of this day for months, and when it finally arrives, you don't know what to say."

"You're more excited than I am," Lightning said dryly, trying to cover up the awkwardness she felt.

"Well I've been waiting longer than you have! Oh, this is going to be fantastic. What are you going to say? What are you going to do?" Lebreau had already constructed several scenarios in her mind and was going through them like a flick-book.

Lightning tried to extricate herself from Lebreau's hold, but the barmaid was either a lot stronger than she looked, or unwilling to release her captive. "Actually that's something I wanted your help with," she said, still attempting to pull away.

Lebreau let go of her and leapt to her feet so fast that Lightning almost fell over. "Oh ho ho," she said manically. "I've got a thousand ideas for you to get your girl. I'm thinking rose petals all over the bed, candles everywhere, sexy lingerie. Fang comes in and you crawl on all fours towards her, grab her by the sari, rip it off and just stick your fac-"

Lightning scrambled upwards and slammed her hand over Lebreau's mouth just in time to prevent the end of that sentence. Blood and heat were rushing to her face. "Lebreau," she warned through gritted teeth.

The barmaid seemed to realise her mouth had run away with her, and settled down almost immediately. She gave Lightning apologetic eyes, and the pinkette carefully removed her hand.

"Too much?" Lebreau asked.

"Definitely too much."

"Sorry," Lebreau said meekly. "I just got a bit carried away. But I can totally do calm and sensible." She stroked her chin thoughtfully, trying to put herself in Lightning's shoes. "How do you want to go about this?"

"Well, obviously not the boudoir seduction scene you were envisaging." Lightning's face was still red from imagining it. She would never have the courage to do it in reality but she'd only embarrass herself if she admitted she had thought of the same thing in the small hours of the night. "I didn't really know what to do. Something low-key," she added, in case Lebreau started getting funny ideas again. "Something that shows my appreciation for her, and the fact I care about her."

"Like the hunting stuff she's been giving you?"

"Exactly. I did think about doing something similar, but I wasn't sure what."

Lebreau sucked in air through her teeth. "Well, no offence, but creativity isn't really your thing, is it? So it'd have to be something meaningful and thoughtful without involving a lot of invention." She turned to look at Lightning, who was staring at her with a small smile playing on her lips. "What?"

"You're really trying to help, aren't you," Lightning stated.

"Well, yeah." Lebreau was confused. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Of course it is. I guess I'm just not used to people helping me with personal problems. And actually, I think you've given me a good idea." Lightning tugged on Lebreau's arm, pulling her down onto the sand as she set off towards the schoolhouse.

"What? Where are we going?" Lebreau whined as Lightning strode away.

"I want to ask Vanille to get something of Fang's for me," Lightning called over her shoulder.

Lebreau skipped a couple of steps to catch up. "What is it?" she asked curiously.

"It's a notebook. I'll tell you about it later. I'm not sure that Vanille knows what it's for, and I don't want to worry her if Fang hasn't told her about it first."

It only took a minute for the pair of them to arrive at the schoolhouse, which was quiet at this time of day. The children only had morning lessons on a Wednesday, so Lightning threw the door open and strode in, confident that she wasn't going to interrupt anything.

The loud creak of the door being swung on its hinges startled Serah and Vanille who, upon seeing their visitors, scrabbled with the items on the table they were using, trying to hide them from sight. They struggled with it for several moments, before standing and blocking the front of the table, hiding it from view.

Serah plastered a look of innocence onto her face. "Hey Light. Uh, what's going on? I thought you were going out with Lebreau?"

Lebreau leaned out from behind Lightning, waving to the younger girls.

Lightning eyed her sister suspiciously. "We are going out. I wanted to know if Vanille would do me a favour first."

Vanille looked askance at Serah before replying chirpily, "Sure thing Lightning, what's up?" She shifted her arms into an unnatural looking pose, clearly trying to block whatever was behind her.

Lightning found both of their behaviour very odd, but didn't comment on it. Serah and Vanille were always up to some hare-brained scheme or another. "Do you know the leather-bound journal that Fang has? It's only small, has a brown cover?" she asked.

Vanille frowned as she tried to think. "She keeps something like that in her bedside drawer. I've only seen it a couple of times, but I think that's where it is. Why?"

Lightning ignored the query. "Would you mind letting me borrow it for a few hours?"

Serah and Vanille exchanged glances. "I guess that would be okay," Vanille said slowly. "I don't know what she keeps in it, but she probably won't mind you looking."

"Oh, she showed it to me before," Lightning said reassuringly. "There's nothing top-secret in there, I promise. I only want it for a little while."

Vanille judged for any sign of foul play, but could only see honesty in the pinkette's face. "Alright," she said. "I'll go and get it." She moved a step away from the table, before realising that would leave the bits and pieces scattered on it exposed. "Um, why don't you come with me?" She flapped her hands at Lightning as she advanced on her, forcing her backwards out the door. Lightning backpedalled to avoid being run down.

Lebreau and Serah looked bemused as the other two women disappeared from sight.

"What was that about?" Lebreau asked, thumbing over her shoulder at the empty doorway.

Serah squinted at the door to make sure no-one was going to walk back in, before moving away from the table, revealing the bright colours of the Entrancing Tail.

"Ooh, shiny!" Lebreau exclaimed, moving over to examine it closer. "What is that?"

"It's an Entrancing Tail. Fang found it on the creature she and Lightning killed the other day. She wanted to give it to her for her next gift, but then she had to work all week."

"So what are you and Vanille doing with it?" Lebreau asked, still enchanted by the colours.

"Fang wanted to turn it into a wind-charm." Serah picked up a pair of delicate pliers. "Vanille offered to do the fiddly metalwork for her. We didn't think Lightning would turn up if you guys were going out, so we decided to do it now." Serah bit her lip. "I hope she didn't see it."

"Relax; I'm sure she didn't see anything. Besides, she's all caught up in her big revelation at the moment."

Serah's eyes went wide. "You don't mean…"

"I mean," Lebreau grinned. "She's put her big girl pants on and decided to go for it."

* * *

Vanille led the way back to NORA house and into the bedrooms, still curious as to what Lightning wanted with Fang's notebook. She had only seen it a couple of times, and Fang never seemed to write in it, so it was unlikely to be a diary.

Lightning wasn't the kind of person to invade someone's privacy for the sake of it, and Vanille suspected that Fang wouldn't be overly concerned anyway. If it got Lightning more interested in her, Fang would probably be thrilled.

Vanille pushed open the door to Fang's room and headed straight for the bedside table. There were a few knick-knacks spread around the room and in the drawers, but Fang was quite restrained when it came to clutter, so it took no time at all to locate the journal. She picked it up curiously, wondering what Fang had written in it that Lightning needed to know. She resisted the urge to look though. If it was important, Fang would tell her when the time was right.

She turned around to give it to Lightning, but was met with an empty room.

"Lightning?" she called. She could have sworn the pinkette was right behind her.

Lightning appeared in the doorway, a curious expression on her face. "Sorry, I was in the hallway. Where is that scent coming from?"

"Oh, do you like it? It's a Fragrant Oil I picked up at Creature Comforts." Vanille bounded down the corridor and picked up a small ceramic jar that was sitting on a side-table. She gave it to Lightning, who sniffed it, pleasantly surprised by the light fragrance. "We used to get all sorts of oils from creatures back in the day, but never anything like this," Vanille continued.

"How many different types of oil are there?" asked Lightning.

"Oh, tons," replied Vanille. "There are the ones for cooking, the ones to use in robots like Bhakti, ones to polish wood and metal, Gummy Oil, Medicinal Oil, Esoteric Oil…"

"I've never heard of Esoteric Oil," Lightning said, handing the jar back to Vanille.

"It's kinda cool. It's colourless and doesn't smell of anything, but it glows in the dark. We used to have little jars of it in the orphanage," Vanille said wistfully. "It gave off a lovely warm light. They acted as night lights for the kids who were afraid of the dark. I always had Fang to protect me from monsters under the bed, but I still loved looking at the oil. Fang would never admit it, but she liked it too." She smiled to herself as she got caught up in memories.

"Is it the kind of thing you can still find? How difficult is it to source?" That small glimpse into the childhood of Fang and Vanille gave Lightning the beginning of an idea.

Vanille thought for a moment. "I think it came from Alraune," she said. "Those slug things we met when we landed in Vallis Media."

Lightning remembered meeting groups of Alraune. Gelatinous blobs with bright, out-sized leaves on the tops of their heads. She especially remembered how easy they were to dispatch. Vallis Media wasn't more than a couple hours of walk from New Bodhum either; it would be easy to get there and back in an afternoon.

Vanille was standing with the leather notebook in her hand, offering it out. "Lightning?" she prompted.

Lightning shook herself back. "Oh, thanks." She accepted the notebook. "I won't be long with it at all."

"Sure. You can just put it back when you're done."

Lightning nodded, and the two women walked back outside. Lebreau was loitering in front of the schoolhouse for them, in case Lightning burst inside again and spotted the Entrancing Tail. The pinkette waved her over.

"Lebreau, how do you fancy a trip to Vallis Media?" Lightning asked as soon as the brunette was in earshot.

"Now?" Lebreau shrugged. "Sure. It's been ages since I've gotten out in the air."

"Great," Lightning said. "I need to swing by the hunter's lodge. Do you mind grabbing your rifle and a big container of some kind?"

Lebreau looked confused at the request, but nodded anyway. Vanille had sussed an idea of what Lightning was planning, and grinned to herself.

"Meet back here in ten?" Lebreau asked.

"Make it twenty," Lightning replied, already walking away. "I need to do a little bit of persuasion first."

* * *

Not long later, Lightning walked back up the sand to NORA house, where Lebreau was sitting out in the sun again, rifle sheath and an empty ten litre bottle by her side. Lightning quietly walked inside and dropped the notebook back into Fang's bedroom before going and joining the barmaid on the deck.

"Ready to go?" Lightning asked.

"You know it," Lebreau said. She shouldered her rifle and Lightning took the bottle, before they both set off. To her credit, Lebreau made it two-hundred yards away from town before curiosity got the better of her. "So, we're clearly not going out on a nature stroll. What's the story with that container?"

"Vanille was telling me about a type of oil they used to use in Oerba a lot. It glows in the dark, and she said Fang always liked it." Lightning shrugged, a little bit self-conscious at what she was saying. "I thought it might be nice to have some for when I talked to her. A reminder of her childhood, you know?"

"Aww, that is so cute," Lebreau teased. "You're just a big softie at heart, aren't you?"

Lightning flushed. "Shut up," she said, without any real feeling.

"I'm just ribbing you," Lebreau said. "You know I'm down with this whole thing." She pointed at the bottle Lightning was carrying. "So this is for the oil, yeah? What, is there some kind of well we're visiting?"

"Not quite. Esoteric oil is found in Alraune, so we'll have to find one and drain it. They're very easy to kill though, so it won't take any time at all."

Lebreau had drawn up short, and Lightning took several more steps before she realised she was walking alone. "What?" she asked when she turned around. "Don't tell me you're too delicate to get your hands dirty, because I know for a fact you butcher your own meat."

"It's not that," Lebreau shook her head. "It just struck me as quite funny that someone like you was searching for _Esoteric_ Oil."

Lightning didn't understand. "What does that mean?"

"A mysterious, cryptic woman looking for mysterious, cryptic oil. You have to admit it's ironic."

Lighting opened her mouth to retort, but suddenly didn't know what to say. "Come on," she muttered, turning away again, "we should get a move on."

Lebreau followed behind her, smirking madly. "You haven't told me what the deal with Fang's notebook is yet, either."

"Well I can't tell you now. It'd ruin my mysterious and cryptic nature."


	11. Chapter 11

It was later that same evening. Serah and Vanille had finished not only the lesson plans they needed for the coming week, but also the wirework on the Entrancing Tail. Vanille had spent a frustrating hour running a length of strong wire down the hollow spine to reinforce its strength, then added a small silver weight to the bottom to act as ballast. Then it was the relatively simple job of adding a hook to the top, complete with a delicate spiral effect. The iridescent colours of the Tail were obviously the main event, but if the details didn't do it justice, the effect would be spoiled.

Both of the girls agreed that if Lightning didn't love her new Entrancing Tail wind-charm, there was nothing that could impress her.

It was safely packaged up under Vanille's bed, and now she and Serah were relaxing in the backroom of the bar, toasting themselves after a job well done. They had been sitting and drinking for a couple of hours when they finally heard the front door open and footsteps head towards them. A tired-looking Lebreau entered first, dropping her rifle onto the nearest chair and collapsing unceremoniously onto the rug in front of the fireplace.

"Ugh," she moaned. "Serah, your damn sister is trying to kill me."

Lightning appeared a moment later, not looking as worse for wear. She carefully placed the heavy container of oil she was carrying onto the floor and sat down on the sofa next to Serah. "It wasn't that bad," she said to the groaning barmaid.

"Not that bad?" Lebreau asked incredulously. "I haven't walked at that pace in ever! My feet are absolutely killing me. And I'm all sticky from where that oil got all over me." She pouted.

Serah felt sorry for her and got off the sofa to offer her the glass of wine she was holding. Lebreau accepted it thankfully and sighed as the alcohol had an immediate calming effect on her.

"Not everyone is used to walking the way you do, Light," Serah admonished lightly. "You could've slowed down a bit."

Lightning rolled her eyes at the reprimand but muttered an apology anyway.

"That's better," Serah said. "So is this the famous oil, then?" she asked, changing the subject as she crossed the room to the oil container. "Vanille told me that you were asking about it before you rushed off. We assumed you were getting some. It doesn't look like much."

Even Lightning had to admit that it didn't look like it was worth the effort of getting it. It was colourless, odourless and apparently tasteless, although she hadn't tried it. It had a similar sort of viscosity to soup, so it was relatively easy to pour into the container. Even if she did get some of it on Lebreau.

"Turn off the lights," Vanille called over. "It won't be quite the same effort because of the light from the fire, but it will still look cool."

Serah shut the door to the main bar and then flicked the light switch off, stepping back to avoid blocking the view. Four pairs of eyes looked intently at the container. After several moments Lebreau opened her mouth to complain about the effort she put into getting something that was faulty, when a small white glow started from the centre of the oil. It grew in both size and intensity over half a minute, until the whole container was emitting a warm, comforting light.

"Wow," Serah breathed. "That is so cool."

"Isn't it?" Vanille said, not as enraptured as the others because she had seen it a thousand times before. "Each dorm room in our old orphanage had a small jar of this on the window sill. It would soak up sunlight during the day and give off light at night."

"I can't believe this is the first I'm hearing about this stuff," Lebreau said from the floor, all protests forgotten. "This is great."

"Well, you know where it comes from now if you want to get some more," Lightning said. Her outward appearance was her usual expression of calm, but she was secretly thrilled with the incredible effect of the Esoteric Oil.

Lebreau wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, not if I have to blitz my way there in one afternoon again. My stamina isn't what I thought it was." She lay back down, tilting her head to the side so she could still admire the Oil.

"Fang will love this, Lightning," Vanille said. "She won't have seen it since we were kids."

"I hope so."

Serah came and sat back down next to Lightning, playing gently with the ends of her sister's hair. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered, trying to avoid catching the attention of the others.

Lightning dragged her eyes away from the Oil to stare at her.

"For giving yourself a chance," Serah explained. "I know you think you don't know what you're doing, but once you and Fang talk you'll find it's the easiest thing in the world. In whatever capacity it turns out to be, you guys care about each other a lot and this will only make your relationship better."

Lightning flashed a weak smile at her and leaned gently into her touch. "When did you get so wise?" she asked.

Serah stroked the back of Lightning's head. "I had a good teacher."

There was a delicate cough from Vanille. "So when are you going to see Fang?" she asked. "You know she doesn't get back until Friday, right?"

Lightning nodded. "I know. I thought I could invite her over on Friday night for dinner, and talk to her then?" She looked at Serah for confirmation.

"Ugh, lame," Lebreau interrupted.

"Why is it lame?" Lightning asked, a little put out.

"She's been to your house a million times. She helped to build it and some weeks she probably spends more time there than you do. You need to do it somewhere different, somewhere with a bit of excitement, with pizazz," Lebreau said.

"Pizazz?" Vanille mumbled to herself. "What is pizazz?"

"Like where?" Lightning asked the barmaid.

Lebreau shrugged, a difficult feat when she was still in repose. "I dunno, Sulyya Springs?" She yawned. "It'd be nice in the evening, under the stars. No monsters around there."

"Ooh, that's a good idea," Vanille said. "It'd be really romantic."

Lightning almost baulked at the word 'romantic', even though that was what the endeavour was about. "Do you really think that'd be best?" she asked the room at large.

She received three firm nods in return.

"Alright then," Lightning said, a touch uncertainly. "I'll get it organised."

* * *

After a long week traipsing around the Yaschas Massif with four very green hunters, Fang was looking forward to getting home. She was practically counting the paces left as their band trudged down the path to New Bodhum. She didn't mind doing schooling anyone who wanted to know on the distinctions between edible and poisonous plants, and which monsters could be taken on. She was more than happy to teach the fundamentals of hunting and tracking to whomever wanted to learn them.

What she minded was having to do it when her schedule for the week was supposed to look very different.

Alright, it wasn't Scott's fault that he broke his leg. It was an accident that could happen to anyone, and no one wanted to be out of action for weeks, especially a hunter. It just meant that someone had to step up and do the training, and that someone had to be Fang. She much preferred to work solo, or with someone who was experienced. It made for a smoother hunt, and deadlier monsters could be taken down.

She liked these guys, really she did, but she couldn't see any of them taking down the Mushussu she and Lightning slew the other day.

Fang rolled her eyes to herself at the mention of the pinkette. It seemed like every other thought she was having this week related to Lightning. Must be that old adage about absence making the heart grow fonder. Previously Lightning had only crossed her mind every third thought.

They rounded a bend in the road and Fang could have cried when she saw smoke from the chimney of NORA house appear over the tree line. It was way too late for lunch, but hopefully Lebreau would have some leftovers she could eat. Then she could have a nice long bath and a lie down. There were murmurs of relief from the people behind her, who were less used to this level of strenuous activity and therefore more tired and achy than she was.

"Alright guys," she said. "Here we are, home at last."

There was a ragged cheer. Fang stopped and turned to face the group. "I know this has been a long old week for all of us. I get that you soft Cocoonians aren't used to roughing it in tents and drinking out of rivers and getting mud all in your smalls, but you didn't do half bad. Hunting is a dangerous game, and the fact we all made in back home in one piece is something. Good job." She nodded approvingly at them.

The trainee hunters took turns clapping each other on the back and shaking hands, pleased with their accomplishment.

"So, drop all your kit and supplies back at the hunting lodge when we get to town, then I don't want to see any of your faces again until Monday, ya hear?" Fang grinned at them as they passed her on the way down the path. They'd be decent enough hunters in time, but she was serious about not wanting to see any of them. She just wanted something to eat, something strong to drink, and a rest.

She followed them down into New Bodhum, but headed straight for NORA house. All her equipment belonged to her, so it was kept in her room, as opposed to the communal lodge. She put it neatly away in the trunk at the end of her bed before headed to the kitchen to find some food.

Lebreau was in there, rolling out pastry. She looked up when Fang entered and almost dropped her rolling pin in excitement.

"Fang, hey, you're back! How was your trip?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but Lebreau wasn't stopping.

"-Great. So listen, I know you've just gotten back, but Lightning wanted to meet you at Sulyya Springs. This evening." Lebreau looked at Fang expectantly.

The huntress blinked in confusion. Her mind hadn't caught up to the rapid change in topics, and she latched on to the last thing she had been thinking about. "Uh, I came in for something to eat?"

Lebreau waved a dismissive hand at her. "Yeah, yeah, I'll make you a sandwich. Now, why don't you go and get washed up and change into something clean."

Fang stared at her.

"Come on, show some hustle Fang," Lebreau scolded, flicking a tea-towel at her. "You haven't got that much time."

Vanille arrived at that moment, grabbing Fang by the wrist and dragging her down the corridor.

"Hey, let go! What on Pulse is going on here?" Fang said, struggling against the redhead's hold. "I've only been back for two minutes and you guys are freaking me out." They stopped in front of the bathroom and Fang wrenched her arm from Vanille's grip. "Seriously 'Nille, can't I get through the front door before I'm dragged into your latest caper?"

Vanille's bottom lip started trembling, and Fang sighed internally.

"Look, I didn't mean to snap," she muttered. "It's just been a long week, and I want to relax."

The redhead perked up almost immediately. "I know you do. That's why you need to get showered, so you can go and meet Lightning. She's waiting for you."

Fang looked at her suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"You won't know if you don't go," Vanille sing-songed, and pushed Fang into the bathroom. "Now hurry up."

* * *

After a long, hot shower Fang felt more like herself again. All the mud and sweat and dirt that had been ground into her skin for the past week had been washed away, and her hair was no longer dull and lank. There was something very soothing about being clean. She felt calmer than she did earlier, even if her heart-rate had picked up slightly at the knowledge that Lightning wanted to meet her.

As she towelled down, Fang wondered what her friend wanted that she couldn't tell her here. She secretly hoped that it was what she wanted to talk about, what she had been hinting at, but quashed those thoughts to avoid getting her hopes up.

She wrapped the towel around her body and headed back to her bedroom, where Vanille was sitting on her bed. A freshly-laundered sari as well as a small bag were next to her.

"Here, Lebreau brought you this," Vanille said, offering up a plate with a thick-cut sandwich on it. Fang accepted it gratefully and took three big bites before pointing at the clothes Vanille had laid out.

"Y'know I've been dressing myself fine for years now?" She said through a mouthful of bread.

"Yes, but this one is your smartest sari," Vanille replied.

"It looks like all the others."

"Just trust me," Vanille said. "Now, eat the rest of your sandwich. I've packed a small bag for you, and I've put the Entrancing Tail in there as well."

Fang perked up. "You've finished it?" she asked.

"Sure have," Vanille nodded. "It looks so good. Lightning will love it."

"Yeah, speaking of Lightning," Fang said, returning to the matter at hand. "When is someone going to clue me in as to what is going on? You and Lebreau are acting dead shady, and why has Lightning swanned off to Sulyya Springs by herself when she isn't supposed to finish work for another hour?" This whole thing reeked of suspicion, and Fang wasn't buying any of it, even if she was distracted by the news her Entrancing Tail wind-charm had been finished.

Vanille smiled, in a way that was both reassuring and secretive. "It's nothing bad, I promise," she said. "Please, Fang? An evening in the hot springs, after a long week of hunting? Under the night sky? With Lightning?" She wheedled.

Fang relented. "Fine," she muttered, trying to pretend that that didn't sound attractive. "I'll head out now. Not like I need to rest or sort out my equipment or anything."

Vanille ignored her griping. "Have a nice time."

* * *

Sulyya Springs was, as the name suggested, a series of small springs kept beautifully hot by geysers that ran underneath the earth. It seemed to be the only location of its kind and occupied a space of maybe fifty square metres. The area was surrounded on nearly every side by a rock face, except for a small gap with a worn track running through it, which helped create a sense of privacy. The only signs of life here were a flock of chocobos that seemed to have designated it their home.

Lightning waited at the end of the track, half keeping an eye out for Fang's approach, half staring at the spring she had commandeered for the night. She couldn't decide if it was too much, or not enough, or something else. A couple of chocobos had wandered over when she was setting up and had sniffed curiously at her before cooing softly at her. She took that as a good sign.

She puffed out a sigh as she leaned against the rock wall and checked her watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. Judging by her calculations, if Fang arrived in New Bodhum at the time she was supposed to, and Vanille managed to grab her and send her on her way soon after that, she should arrive any moment now.

The sun was starting to dip down in the sky, creating long shadows on the ground. It would be twilight for another hour or so, then the sun would truly disappear and the Springs would be bathed in moonlight. There was no light pollution, nor any tall buildings on Gran Pulse, so a wonderful star-scape could always been seen. It helped remove some of the inky darkness just a tiny bit.

There was the faint scraping of footsteps along a dust track, and Lightning sprung into a standing position, holding her breath just slightly. The steps grew louder for several moments, then a tall figure appeared round a bend in the wall.

"Fang," Lightning breathed.

The huntress gave her a tired smile as she approached, and threw an arm around her shoulder for a brief hug as soon as she was close enough.

"Hey, Light," Fang said as she pulled away, far too soon for either of their comfort. "Am I glad to see you after that week. What's with the hide-and-seek, though?"

Lightning took Fang's bag from her and led her into Sulyya Springs. "I thought it'd be a nice change of scenery. And I know you weren't supposed to camp out in the wilds for a week with a group of trainees, so I imagined that an evening here would be relaxing." She kept her voice calm whilst she was talking, but couldn't quite manage to make eye contact.

Fang was touched. "That's really nice," she said quietly. "Etro knows I don't mind running training courses when I have to, but I wanted to spend this week…" her voice trailed off when she saw where Lightning had stopped, "at…home…"

Lightning was standing nervously next to a hot spring, which was raised a couple of feet above the ground. It was one of the smallest springs in the area, perhaps six feet in diameter, but was plenty big enough for two people. A fire was crackling away next to it, and a pot of what smelled like stew was bubbling away on top. There was a blanket lain out, and even a log to lean against.

But what really caught Fang's eye were the little jars dotted around the rim of the hot spring, filled with liquid, and just starting to glow slightly in the dimming light. She faltered a step closer and reached a hand out, not quite believing what she was seeing.

"Is that…did you find some Esoteric Oil?" She asked.

Lightning nodded, not sure what to make of Fang's reaction. "Vanille mentioned it the other day, and I thought it would be a nice touch." When Fang didn't respond she added. "Do you like it?"

Fang reached out and gently picked up a jar. "Do I like it?" she said, her voice thick with emotion. "I haven't seen this stuff in years. We used to have it in the orphanage. I could see it from my bed, and I'd just watch it for ages until I drifted off to sleep. I'd recognise that glow anywhere." Her eyes misted over as she lost herself in memories for a moment.

Lightning didn't hear a 'yes' in that sentence and shifted uncomfortably, wondering whether her plan was going to backfire before it began. Fang must have picked up on her nervousness because she put the jar back down and slid one arm around Lightning's shoulder and the other around her waist, holding her tight.

"I love it," she croaked into pink hair. "Absolutely love it. Thank you." She hadn't realised just how much she needed this reminder of her old life until now.

Relief poured through Lightning, and she hugged Fang back.

They stayed in that pose for a long, comfortable minute, until Lightning gently extricated herself, anxious to continue. "Did you want to get into the spring?" she asked. "The water is lovely and hot. And there's stew if you're hungry."

The mention of food reminded Fang that she hadn't eaten anything other than a sandwich all day. "Actually, I'd love some stew if it's ready." Lightning nodded and busied herself with some bowls she was pulling out of her bag. "As for the springs," Fang continued. "I would, but I don't have swimming gear."

Lightning gave her the bag Vanille had packed, smiling. "Vanille has you covered. There's a towel in there as well."

Fang raised her eyebrow. "You guys thought of everything, huh?"

"Pretty much. Get changed whilst I serve dinner." Lightning turned her back, affording Fang some privacy. The huntress opened her bag to reveal a modest black two-piece bikini, and a large towel. She quickly shucked her clothes and changed, noting pleasantly that the air didn't have much bite to it. She slipped into the spring whilst Lightning was still serving, hissing at the wonderful sensation of hot water. She could feel the residual tension from her long week just melting away.

Lightning stood up and offered her a large bowl of stew, which she happily dug in to. There was a clinking sound, then the pinkette produced a bottle of what Fang recognised as Lebreau's potent moonshine.

Fang relaxed further into the water, watching as Lightning stood looking a little unsure of herself.

"You aren't gonna leave me to bathe by myself are you?" she called. "Come on in, the water's lovely."

Lightning looked at her for a long moment, before pulling her shirt up and over her head in one swift movement. Fang almost choked in surprise, getting water everywhere as she tried to avoid ogling her friend.

There was an amused laugh, and when Fang found the courage to peek over the top of the spring, she saw Lightning standing in a pale yellow bikini top. She looked entertained at Fang's reaction.

Fang feigned nonchalance as she took a large swig from the bottle and continued to eat her meal, studiously ignoring the fact that Lightning was removing her skirt to reveal matching yellow bikini bottoms. She remained with her head in her bowl until she felt Lightning slip in the water next to her.

"You can look now," Lightning said, still smirking.

Fang took that as an invitation. Most of Lightning's body was submerged in the water, but the tops of her breasts, cupped in tight material, were visible. A thin strip of material ran up and over Lightning's neck in a halter-top style. Fang had never necessarily found the clavicle a particular fascinating area of the body, but the delicate curve of Lightning's drew her eye. The tips of her asymmetric hair just skimmed the water, gently wafting when she moved her body.

Lightning could almost feel Fang's eyes grazing her body, and was surprised at how comfortable she was letting it happen. Now she knew where they both stood, the attention was flattering, not confusing.

Fang seemed to be aware that she was staring, and jerked her gaze back to her food, gulping down the last few mouthfuls and setting the bowl aside. She grabbed the neck of the bottle and reclined back into the water.

Lightning took her turn to stare as she picked at the rest of her bowl. Fang had her head flung backwards against the rock, eyes closed in repose. Her eye was drawn to the stylised Gorgonopsid tattoo on Fang's left arm, the black ink straining ever so slightly against the bulge of her muscles. As an ex-solider, and a current builder, Lightning had impressive musculature of her own, but there was something about Fang's body that elevated it into almost an art-form.

Still staring at the tattoo, Lightning spoke. "Do you know, I've had a lot of comments on the new look of my house?"

"The what?" Fang asked lazily.

"The new style of my house," Lightning explained. "The Gorgonopsid pelt and the Seapetal Scales. Serah and Lebreau seem to really like the effect. I do to."

Fang smiled at the sky. "I'm glad. I thought it'd be nice to add a couple of simple bits to the inside, having spent so long building the outside."

There was a shifting of water and Fang felt Lightning settle closer to her. "Yes," she said, in a tone that suggested a concept not entirely agreed with, "that type of reasoning makes sense."

Fang rolled her head to look at her. She was outwardly calm, but inwardly a bit worried about where the conversation was going. "What other type of reasoning is there?" she asked evenly.

Lightning pinched the alcohol from her, taking two large swigs. It burned horribly as it went down her throat, but she needed the extra little bit of courage. "The type of reasoning I found in the epilogue of the hunting book you gave me," she said, voice remaining steady.

"I see," Fang said simply. She didn't need Lightning to elaborate, nor did she feel the need to deny it or contradict her. It wasn't surprising that Lightning hadn't taken too long to decipher the information from the book. She was very bright, after all."So what do you think?"

Lightning was a little bemused at the calm, rational direction this was going in, she had to admit. She was half psyched up for tears and emotions and outbursts.

This was a much preferable way of talking about it though.

"I think we're having a conversation that is long overdue," she settled on saying.

Fang sat up straight and turned slightly to face her. Lightning did the same thing. Both waited for the other to start.

"Does it mean what I think it means?" Lightning asked eventually.

Fang fiddled with a loose piece of rock. "Yes," she said. "See, back in my day, if you were a hunter and you were interested in someone, you would go and slay a monster for them. It was a symbol of your strength and prowess, and your ability to keep a family fed and safe." She carefully avoided looking up when she said that. "Which is what I did with the Gorgonopsid. Then I spoke to Serah, who said that it was a bit too 'Pulsian' and that Cocoonian rituals were different. More emphasis on pretty things, right?"

Lightning inclined her head in response. Pretty things weren't really her cup of tea.

"So I came up with the idea of the Scales. It was a perfect balance between me going and killing something to make myself seem impressive, and you getting something beautiful. And they have a very functional shape as well," Fang explained. "I realise the book might have been a bit of a wildcard but I really wasn't expecting you to have read it so quickly." She gave a sheepish grin, before her expression turned solemn. "Look, Lightning. I like you a lot. I have ever since the day we met in Palumpolum and you slapped me. There was just something about you that I found fascinating. You have an amazing capacity for courage and strength and love. And you're very pretty," she tacked on.

Lightning tried to give her a sceptical look, but quite frankly her head was swimming. She already knew most of what Fang had said, otherwise they wouldn't be here, but to actually hear it out loud was something else.

"But I want you to know," Fang said seriously, "that nothing you say will change our friendship for me. The reason I was going round the houses instead of just telling you straight is because I know you. I know exactly how your mind works. I get that this is totally new territory for you, and I'm not going to pressure you into anything. I'm just putting it out there that I like you, and that's that. If you don't feel the same, I get it. And we can keep things the way they are. Our friendship is very important to me, and I won't compromise it for anything." She looked up to gauge Lightning's reaction.

Lightning was still reeling from the shock of hearing confirmation of Fang's affections. She thought she was prepared for this conversation, but now that it was happening all she could do was sit and stare.

Fang watched a motionless Lightning gape at her for thirty seconds before smiling sadly. "Hey, no worries," she said lightly. "We don't need to talk about it. I'm sorry for making things weird when you were trying to give me a relaxing evening." She stood up from the water, changing the subject to avoid making Lightning feel more awkward than she probably already was. "Although that reminds me, Vanille helped me make a souvenir from our trip to Taejin's Tower. I think you'll like this." She gracefully lifted one leg then the other over the side of the spring, shivering slightly as the cool air hit wet skin. She padded over to where her bag lay and started to root around.

Seeing Fang leave the spring, even if only temporarily, motivated Lightning into action. She sloshed over to the side and jumped out, splashed water everywhere. The sound startled Fang, who straightened up and turned around. Lightning marched forward until they were toe-to-toe.

They remained locked in a tableau, staring into each other's eyes, sharing the same breath. Lightning's pale blue eyes kept trailing down from Fang's green ones to her lips, and back again. Fang just stared into Lightning's eyes, trying to read her emotions.

"You know," the pinkette said slowly. "I was really confused when I learned about all this. And I don't like being confused."

Fang held her breath.

"So I started to analyse it. I won't bore you with the thought process, because it was quite jarring and not very logical at all, but basically my mind kept bringing itself back to you. The first time we met, the first time we fought together, the time you were turned into crystal and all the times in between." She lifted her chin ever so slightly. "Do you know what would happen then?"

Fang kept just enough presence of mind to be able to shake her head.

"My memories would change. There would suddenly be a new scene added." She leaned forward an extra inch. "Do you know what that scene was?"

Fang did. She thought she did. And she really hoped it wasn't just the alcohol talking. But she wanted to find out for sure. "No," she whispered gently.

This was it, Lightning thought. This was the moment. This was going to be the big, defining moment of her new life. This could make everything so much better. Her heart was threatening to beat out of her chest, and her palms were sweating.

"It was this," she murmured, and leaned forward.

Fang couldn't help but flutter her eyes closed. She kept them closed for a couple of heartbeats before she realised that nothing was happening. Cautiously she opened them again and found that Lightning had paused a mere breath away from her lips.

"Light?" she asked quietly. She daren't move away, but she cursed herself softly for moving too fast. She should have known this would be too much for the pinkette to handle. "Claire?" she tried again, barely making a sound.

That was the straw that broke Lightning's resolve. To hear her name, her real name, uttered so softly from a woman who was wonderful and cared so much about her, she couldn't help herself. She surged forward the last remaining millimetres and crushed her lips against Fang's.

Fang swayed from the unexpected force but quickly regained her balance, delicately placing her hands on Lightning's hips for support. She remained immobile in the kiss, wanting Lightning to feel comfortable enough to set the pace. After a moment Lightning started to move her lips, inexorably slowly, getting used to the motion. Fang was content to follow her lead, still marvelling that they were finally kissing, and that the sensation was incredible.

Lightning crept her arms up Fang's sides, mirroring the huntress's position on her own body. The feel of warm, wet, pliant skin against her fingers was incredible, and she couldn't believe they had never touched like this before.

The kiss lasted for forever and no time at all, until Lightning parted her lips slightly to gasp for air. Fang, a little drunk on pleasure, couldn't resist the urge to peek a little bit of her tongue into Lightning's mouth. The pinkette squealed and withdrew, flushing furiously, although she did remain standing in their loose embrace.

Fang chuckled and kissed her on the forehead in apology. She was still a bit incredulous that this was actually happening.

Lightning licked her lips unconsciously, trying to memorise the taste of Fang. Fang found herself drawn by the sight, and couldn't help but swoop in for one more quick kiss.

"Wow," she muttered, eyes a little glazed over. "Were all of your fantasies like this?"

"Not all of them," Lightning replied, surprising even herself with a candid answer. By the self-conscious shuffling of her feet though, Fang knew better than to probe further. Instead she steered the conversation to safer grounds.

"So did you want to see what your souvenir looks like?" she asked.

Lightning nodded, and Fang reluctantly removed her hands from her hips in order to bend down and pick up the large bundle she had taken out of her bag earlier. She gave it to Lightning who slowly unfolded the blanket it was wrapped in. On a whim, Fang slid behind her and wrapped her arms loosely around her waist.

"Is this alright?" she whispered in Lightning's ear.

"Yes." Lightning was grateful for the warmth of the huntress behind her, even if the tactile sensation was giving her butterflies. She pulled her gift out of the blanket and held it up. "Oh Etro," she breathed. "This is incredible. Wasn't this on the Mushussu?" she asked.

"That's right. It's an Entrancing Tail," Fang explained. "It's a bit dark to see it now, but the colours are incredible when the light hits it. I got Vanille to attach a hook to it. I thought it would look great on the porch," she suggested.

"Fang, this is too much. I can't keep accepting gifts like these," Lightning said, turning in the huntress's arms to rest her head against Fang's collarbone. Now that she had started to get used to the idea of touching Fang, Lightning was finding it very difficult to stop.

"You can accept it," Fang said, thrilled at the affection Lightning was showing. "I insist," she pressed a kiss to the top of her hair. "I made it for you," she whispered into Lightning's ear.

Lightning shivered at the feeling, and her stomach twisted with tendrils of heat. "Fine," she said, not at all hesitant to keep such a wonderful gift. "But if we're giving out presents, I have one for you too." She pulled away from Fang and went to her bag, rummaging until she found a scroll.

Fang accepted it and gently unfurled it, wondering what it was. Upon inspection it was a list of locations and a list of monsters. "This is the same as my Cie'th Stone journal," she realised, frowning at why she had two copies of the same information.

"That's right," Lightning said. "Except this copy isn't for you."

"It's not?"

"No." Lightning paused before she next spoke, hoping she had done the right thing. "This is for Scott and the other hunters."

There was silence as Fang took this information on board, not yet understanding.

"I saw how upset you were when we went to Taejin's Tower, and how frustrated you were that you couldn't do more to help all those people who had been turned into Cie'th," Lightning explained. "And I know you feel responsible for it, and you want to fix it by yourself, and I understand that, I really do, but it just isn't plausible."

Fang looked away, knowing that what Lightning was saying was true.

"So I talked to Scott, and he agreed that we could use the Cie'th Stones as a sort of hunter proficiency test. This list will be posted in the hunting lodge. The weaker creatures can be taken on individually and the stronger ones can be done in teams. It will give the hunters something concrete to work towards, and help the Cie'th," Lightning said. "I think it'll help the people from Cocoon to understand more about what the situation was like on Gran Pulse during the War of Transgression, and what it really meant to be a l'Cie. So what do you think?"

Fang couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face. "I think it's fantastic."

"Really?"

"Really." Fang bounded forward and hugged her.

"Good." Relief washed over Lightning's face. "I wanted to do something meaningful for you," she said, blushing.

Fang kissed her. "This whole night has been meaningful," she said seriously. "Perfect location, good food, even jars of Esoteric Oil, would you believe!" She pulled Lightning closer to her, moulding their curves together. "And a wonderful kiss from a wonderful woman," she said, unable to keep the smile from her voice.

Lightning tilted her head and pressed another kiss to Fang's jawline.

"Oh, another one," Fang joked. "Must be my lucky night."

Lightning chuckled before tightening her grip on Fang. Her hands were trembling and her knees felt weak as she tried to muster up the courage to utter her next sentence. She was very aware that she hadn't said it, and the anticipation was building for her. "I want you to know that I like you too," she whispered almost inaudibly into Fang's shoulder.

Fang could have sworn her heart was going to melt in that moment. She squeezed Lightning as hard as she could, trying to convey all the emotions she felt. When they loosened their hold, Lightning spoke again.

"I don't know how good at this I'm going to be," she confessed. "It's new territory."

"I know," Fang said. "It's okay. I like everything about you already. You don't need to do anything to impress me."

"What about this?" Lightning asked, leaning forward, suddenly bold now all her secrets were in the open. She pressed her lips to Fang's and they kissed again, deeply this time.

When they broke apart, Fang's head was reeling. "Well," she sputtered, "that was certainly impressive."

Lightning gave a wide smile, and pulled her over to where the blanket lay by the fire. "Well, that's about all the impressive I know. You'll have to show me if you know anything else."

Fang was tempted, oh so tempted, by the offer, but she knew it was far too soon. Instead she sat down and tugged Lightning into her lap. "I'll remember that for next time," she crooned. "How about we enjoy the rest of this night under the stars?" she asked.

"Sounds perfect."

* * *

 **So, that's all she wrote! I hope the ending lived up to everyone's expectations, and that you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you so much to all those who read my little story, and especially those who reviewed! See you next time :)**


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